Thailand Rises In Democracy Index 2022 As Other Asian Nations Remain Unchanged

(CTN NEWS) – Even as other Asian countries saw their scores decline over the past year, Thailand’s ranking on a democracy index improved more than any other nation’s.

Australia fell six spots from the previous year’s ranking to 15th in the world, behind New Zealand and several European nations, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The rankings are based on the EIU’s examination of 165 countries’ electoral systems, governmental operations, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. These five key areas were examined.

In comparison to the rankings from 2021, Australia fell behind in the political culture and civil liberties metrics.

In 2022, Thailand improved its overall score the most globally, moving from position 72 to 55.

The EIU attributed the sharp improvement to increased political participation, more space for the nation’s opposition parties, and a diminished threat from secessionist movements.

The EIU noted that despite having control over its security forces and judicial system, Thailand still had a way to advance democracy.

After the 2023 elections, political parties in Thailand that want to form a coalition government will also need to secure the backing of the military establishment.

https://twitter.com/AgatheDemarais/status/1621055829242966017

Nine of the 28 Asian nations had an increase in their scores last year, seven saw no change, and 12 saw a decrease. China and Myanmar saw a decline in their democratic rating due to COVID lockdowns and an ongoing military coup in Myanmar.

According to the survey, Asia had some of the worst performers globally; Afghanistan, Myanmar, and North Korea had the lowest rankings.

The overall score increased slightly from 5.28 in 2021 to 5.29 in the previous year.

This is a disappointing outcome, the report said, given that in 2022 the world began to move past the suppression of individual liberties brought on by the pandemic that persisted through 2020 and 2021.

Top Ranks Dominated By Nordic Nations and Kiwis

There are five “full democracies” in Asia and Australia, namely New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, Japan, and South Korea.

Despite deteriorating or being the same during the previous six years, the region’s score of 5.46 is still higher than the global average.

According to the survey, the region underperforms when compared to North America (8.37), Western Europe (8.36), and Latin America (5.79).

But it outperforms the Middle East and North Africa (3.34), Sub-Saharan Africa (4.14), and Eastern Europe (5.39).

72 out of the 167 countries and territories included in the model, or 43.1% of them all, can be regarded as democracies, according to the 2022 Democracy Index, the research stated.

“There were 24 fully functioning democracies in 2022, up from 21 in 2021.”

With Norway taking the top spot, the Nordic region represented five of the top six nations.

Norway maintained its top spot, according to the EIU, because it performed well in each of the index’s five categories.

The only non-Nordic nation among the top two was New Zealand, which came in at number two.

The report states, “These countries boast high scores across all categories, particularly electoral process, pluralism, and government functioning.”

Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Taiwan, and Australia were in that order, with Iceland coming in third.

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