[imText1]North Korea’s level of democracy is the worst in the world, the Economist examined in its annual prediction of the world affairs. In “The World in 2007”, the British weekly magazine analyzed the level of democracy in 167 countries with the five categories; electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties, maximum of 10 points per each category.
The Economist, based on its analysis, classified the countries into four stages of democracy; full democracy, 28 countries; flawed democracy, 54; hybrid democracy, 30; and authoritarian regime, 55.
Although recent wave of worldwide democratization, only 13 percent of the world population are considered to be living in ‘full democracy,’ whereas 40 percent of them are still under authoritarian regime.
North Korea received average score of 1.03 out of 10 and the 167th out of 167 in the ranking. Not surprisingly, NK received no point at all in civil liberties category. South Korea did a fare job; it is ranked as the 31st democratic country among 167 with a ‘flawed democracy.’
Sweden is the most democratic country, according to the research, with 9.88 average score. Ireland, 9.71 points, the Netherlands, 9.66, and Norway, 9.55 follow the Scandinavian kingdom. The US is ranked 17th while Japan is 20th and the United Kingdom 23rd.
Average democratic index in each continent is; 8.64 in North America, 8.60 in Western Europe, 6.37 in Latin America, 5.76 in Eastern Europe, and Middle East and North Africa (3.53) and Sub-Saharan Africa (4.24) at the bottom.
