The Spirit of Democracy, page 49
Yet, movements from below are often inspired by leaders who call forth our better instincts. In the face of great domestic and international challenges, it is not so difficult to imagine that Americans would respond again to the call of a president who bid them, as John F. Kennedy did on a cold January inauguration morning in 1961, to “ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” Neither is it impossible to imagine that such a new president might begin to restore American credibility in the world by reiterating, and then implementing, the next line of Kennedy’s address: “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
APPENDIX
TABLE 1 THE FREEDOM HOUSE SCALE
Every year, Freedom House, an independent, nonprofit organization that monitors and promotes freedom and democracy around the world, rates each state in the world on parallel seven-point scales of political rights and civil liberties. In each case, 1 represents most free and 7 least free. Below are some key elements of each scale.a
Political Rights
Civil Liberties
1. The extent to which political leaders and representatives are chosen in free and fair elections.
2. Fair electoral laws and framework.
3. The ability of alternative political parties to organize and contest.
4. The chance for opposition forces to make gains and eventually win power through elections.
5. The freedom of individuals to run for office and campaign.
6. Full political rights for cultural, religious, and other minorities.
7. The capacity of an elected government to exercise power free from military, religious, or other domination.
8. Accountability of government to the electorate in between elections.
9. A government free from pervasive corruption.
1. Freedom of expression and belief, including freedom of print, broadcast, and Internet-based media.
2. Freedom of religion.
3. Academic and intellectual freedom.
4. Freedom of assembly, demonstration, and open public discussion.
5. Freedom of organization, e.g., for NGOs, trade unions, and interest groups.
6. Independent judiciary and effective rule of law.
7. Protection from political terror, torture, and unjustified imprisonment.
8. Equal treatment of various segments of the population, including ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities.
9. Freedom to travel and establish residence.
10. Right to own property and establish private businesses.
11. Gender equality and personal social freedoms.
12. Equality of opportunity and absence of economic exploitation.
a For a detailed discussion of the Freedom House methodology and the coding schemes for these two scales, see Freedom House, Freedom in the World, 2006 (New York: Freedom House, 2006), pp. 872–89, and the 2007 survey at Freedom House, Freedom in the World Survey, 2007, http://www.freedomhouse.org.
TABLE 2 THE GROWTH OF ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY, 1973–2006
Year
Number of
democracies
Number of
countries
Democracies
as a Percent
of all countries
Percent of increase or
decrease in number
of democracies per year
1973
40
150
26.7
1980
54
163
33.1
1984
60
166
36.1
1987
65
166
39.2
1988
67
166
40.4
3.1
1990
76
165
46.1
1991
91
183
49.7
19.7
1992
99
186
53.2
8.1
1993
108
190
56.8
8.3
1994
114
191
59.7
5.3
1995
117
191
61.3
2.6
1996
118
191
61.8
0.9
1997
117
191
61.3
-0.9
1998
117
191
61.3
0
1999
120
192
62.5
2.6
2000
119
192
62.0
-0.8
2001
120
192
62.5
0.8
2002
120
192
62.5
0
2003
115
192
59.8
-4.2
2004
117
192
60.9
1.7
2005
120
192
62.5
2.6
2006
121
194
62.6
0.8
Sources: Data from Freedom House, Freedom in the World: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, annual volumes. Figures for 1973 through 1988 reflect my own scoring of the number of democracies in the world at the end of each of those years. Figures for 1990 through 2006 are from the Freedom House survey for that year (published in the subsequent year), with the exception of the following reclassifications of countries that Freedom House considered democracies in these years but that I classify as nondemocracies: Russia 2000–3, Nigeria 2003–5, Venezuela 2004–6, and the Central African Republic in 2005–6. A few smaller countries rated as democracies by Freedom House could also be considered for reclassification.
TABLE 3 REGIME TYPES IN LEAST DEVELOPED STATES, 2006
Regime types among the 59 least developed states that comprise the
bottom third of the 177 countries ranked by the UN Development Program (UNDP)
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index (ranging from 0 to 1) measuring three basic dimensions (which are equally weighted): a long and healthy life, knowledge/education, and a decent standard of living. Of the thirty-six countries with low Human Development, fifteen (42 percent) are democracies, and another have some degree of political competition and pluralism. Of the fifty-nine countries with low or low-medium Human Development, twenty-seven (47 percent) are democracies. It is the case, however, that about seven of these democracies are perhaps only ambiguously so (indicated by the ~ symbol in the table), because of doubts about the freedom and fairness of elections and of the overall political environment.
Country
2002 HDI
score (rank)
Regime Type
Freedom House
average score
Low HDI
Sierra Leone
0.275 (177)
Democracy
3.5
Niger
0.277 (176)
Democracy
3
Burkina Faso
0.302 (175)
Authoritarian
4
Mali
0.326 (174)
Democracy
2
Burundi
0.339 (173)
Democracy
4
Guinea-Bissau
0.350 (172)
Authoritarian (competitive)
3.5
Mozambique
0.354 (171)
Democracy
3.5
Ethiopia
0.359 (170)
Authoritarian (competitive)
5
Central African Rep.
0.361 (169)
Authoritarian (FH democracy)
4.5
Congo, Dem Rep.
0.365 (168)
Authoritarian
6
Chad
0.379 (167)
Authoritarian
5.5
Angola
0.381 (166)
Authoritarian
5.5
Malawi
0.388 (165)
Democracy~
4
Zambia
0.389 (164)
Democracy~
4
Ivory Coast
0.399 (163)
Authoritarian
6
Tanzania
0.407 (162)
Authoritarian (competitive)
3.5
Benin
0.421 (161)
Democracy
2
Guinea
0.425 (160)
Authoritarian
5.5
Rwanda
0.431 (159)
Authoritarian
5.5
East Timor
0.436 (158)
Democracy
3
Senegal
0.437 (157)
Democracy
2.5
Eritrea
0.439 (156)
Authoritarian
6.5
Gambia
0.452 (155)
Authoritarian (competitive)
4.5
Djibouti
0.454 (154)
Authoritarian (competitive)
5
Haiti
0.463 (153)
Authoritarian
6.5
Mauritania
0.465 (152)
Authoritarian
5
Nigeria
0.466 (151)
Authoritarian (competitive)
4
Madagascar
0.469 (150)
Democracy
3
Yemen
0.482 (149)
Authoritarian (competitive)
5
Kenya
0.488 (148)
Democracy
3
Zimbabwe
0.491 (147)
Authoritarian
6.5
Uganda
0.493 (146)
Authoritarian (competitive)
4.5
Lesotho
0.493 (145)
Democracy
2.5
Congo
0.494 (144)
Authoritarian
5
Togo
0.495 (143)
Authoritarian
5.5
Pakistan
0.497 (142)
Authoritarian
5.5
Low-Medium HDI
Cameroon
0.501 (141)
Authoritarian (competitive)
6
Nepal
0.504 (140)
Authoritarian
5.5
Sudan
0.505 (139)
Authoritarian
7
Bangladesh
0.509 (138)
Democracy~
4
Swaziland
0.519 (137)
Authoritarian
6
Comoros
0.530 (136)
Democracy~
4
Laos
0.534 (135)
Authoritarian
6.5
Bhutan
0.536 (134)
Authoritarian
5.5
Papua New Guinea
0.542 (133)
Democracy
3
Burma
0.551 (132)
Authoritarian
7
Ghana
0.568 (131)
Democracy
1.5
Cambodia
0.568 (130)
Authoritarian
5.5
Vanuatu
0.570 (129)
Democracy
2
Botswana
0.589 (128)
Democracy
2
India
0.595 (127)
Democracy
2.5
Namibia
0.607 (126)
Democracy
2.5
Morocco
0.620 (125)
Authoritarian (competitive)
4.5
Islands
0.624 (124)
Democracy
3
São Tomé & Principe
0.645 (123)
Democracy
2
Gabon
0.648 (122)
Authoritarian (competitive)
5
Guatemala
0.649 (121)
Democracy~
4
Egypt
0.653 (120)
Authoritarian
5.5
South Africa
0.666 (119)
Democracy
1.5
Sources: UNDP, Human Development Report, 2004 (New York: UNDP, 2004), table 1, pp. 141–42, and Freedom House, Freedom in the World, 2005: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties (New York: Freedom House, 2005), www.freedomhouse.org.
TABLE 4 DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM BY REGION
(December 31, 2006)
Region
Number of
countries
Number (percent)
of democraciesa
Number (percent) of
liberal democracies
Freedom House H
score < 2.5
Average freedom
score for region
1974 2002 2006
Western Europe and
Anglophone states
28
28 (100)
28 (100)
1.58 1.04 1.02
Postcommunist Europe
(Central European EU
states and former
Soviet Union)
28
18 (64)
11 (39)
6.50 3.39 3.16
Latin America and the
Caribbean
33
31 (94)
18 (55)
3.81 2.49 2.28
Asia (East, Southeast,
and South)
25
10 (40)
4 (16)
4.84 4.38 4.40
Pacific Islands
12
9 (75)
8 (67)
2.75 2.00 2.13
Africa (sub-Sahara)
48
23 (48)
8 (17)
5.51 4.33 4.24
Middle East–North Africa
19
2 (11)
1 (5)
5.15 5.53 5.10
Total
193
121 (63)
78 (40)
4.39 3.38 3.26
Arab and Muslim World
Arab countries
16
0
0
5.59 5.81 5.40
Predominantly Muslim
countries
43
7b
0
5.29 5.33 5.01
a The number of democracies as classified by Freedom House at the end of 2006, but excluding the Central African Republic.
b This group consists of Albania, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Turkey.
Source: Freedom House, Freedom in the World Survey, 2007, www.freedomhouse.org.
TABLE 5 CLASSIFICATION OF REGIMES
(December 31, 2006)
Freedom House ratings (1–7) of political rights and civil liberties are listed in parentheses.
Liberal democracy (Freedom House ratings 1.0–2.0)
Electoral democracy (Freedom House ratings >2.0, but classified as a democracy)
Competitive authoritarian
Electoral (hegemonic) authoritarian
Politically closed authoritarian
Western Europe and Anglophone states
Australia (1,1)
Canada (1,1)
New Zealand (1,1)
United States (1,1)
Western Europe
(24 states)
Postcommunist Europe (Central European Union states and former Soviet Union)
Czech Republic (1,1)
Serbia (3,2)
Bosnia-Herzegovina (3,3)
Azerbaijan (6,5)
Turkmenistan (7,7)
Hungary (1,1)
Ukraine (3,2)
Armenia (5,4)
Kazakhstan (6,5)
