This year’s edition of the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index is notably downbeat. It explores what’s wrong with representative democracy and why the democratic model developed over the past century is in trouble.
Popular disaffection with democratic government is increasingly being expressed in an anti-incumbent backlash and rising support for populist insurgents. Some may argue that the success of populist insurgents at the expense of mainstream parties proves that representative democracy is working well. However, the scale of the backlash suggests that representative democracy has not been working satisfactorily for some time, according to the EIU. In addition, much of the discussion problematises populism rather than addressing the underlying issues that have given rise to populist movements.
It appears many governments and political parties in many democracies have become estranged from citizens and are no longer responsive to their concerns. In many advanced democracies, the established practice has been to exclude the public from having a role in debating these questions. It is therefore unsurprising that large numbers of citizens do not think that democracy, as it is currently organised, is working for them.
Voters who feel they have long been ignored are hitting back by electing populists who they feel are listening to them. The report tries to identify and analyse the underlying drivers of public dissatisfaction with the status quo.
By 2024, only 15% of nations and only 6.6% of the world’s population were living in a full democracy, which equates with a score of more than 8 out of 10.
Switzerland in fifth position scored 9.32, behind Iceland (9.38), Sweden (9.39), New Zealand (9.61) and Norway(9.81). In 2023, Switzerland was ranked eighth with a score of 9.14. Key areas of improvement in Switzerland in 2024 were political culture and civil liberties, two of the five measures making up the overall score. Switzerland rose from 9.38 to 10.00 on the first of these and from 9.12 to 9.41 on the second. On the other three measures: electoral process (9.58), functioning government and pluralism (9.29) and political participation (83.3) Switzerland’s scores remained the same.
In 2024, 13 EU nations failed to qualify as full democracies and one became a hybrid regime. France (7.99), Malta (7.93), Slovenia (7.82), Latvia (7.66), Belgium (7.64), Lithuania (7.59), Italy (7.58), Poland (7.4), Cyprus (7.38), Slovakia (7.21), Hungary (6.51), Croatia (6.5) and Bulgaria (6.34) were all flawed democracies in 2024. Romania (5.99), after its recent highly questionable election annulment, slipped to a hybrid regime.
The US (7.85) retained its classification as a flawed democracy, slipping one position to 28th.
Across the world there has been a growing dissatisfaction with democracy. Increased support for insurgent, often populist parties, has been acting as a safety valve for some of this dissatisfaction. However, the real problems go much deeper and relate to the persistent failure of the mainstream political parties in many countries to satisfy their citizens on key issues such as the economy, immigration, education, health and infrastructure.
Polls by the Pew Research Center and Gallup show this increasing frustration, which appears to be underpinned by declining trust in government, the failure of politicians and political parties to represent voters effectively, and a civic and representation deficit. These factors have led to disillusionment with democratic institutions and contributed to rising populism, political disengagement and increasing political polarisation, said the authors.
Declining trust in government is largely due to the failure of politicians to tackle key issues that concern voters. Rising inequality and corruption have further eroded faith in democratic institutions. Political parties have become disconnected from voters and citizens feel excluded from decision-making processes.
Until the 1980s, voters’ collective identities and attachments to political parties were remarkably stable. The process by which political parties began to disconnect from and eventually lose touch with their original social constituencies was a gradual one. Over time party leaders came to depend less on their party base for support than on external institutions that provided public office and the resources to go with it, wrote the EIU.
Economic, social and cultural change led to a decline in the relative weight of the traditional working class. The weakening appeal of organised religion also affected the core constituencies of traditional conservative parties. This resulted in the erosion of collective political identities and party attachments.
Until the 1990s in most democratic countries there was at least one party that represented the interests of the conservative business elites and middle classes and one that claimed to represent the interests of the working class. However, in recent decades this dividing line has been erased and encouraged a political convergence to the centre. This has left many voters without a party they feel represents them. Populist political movements have sprung up to fill the vacuum.
More on this:
Democracy Index 2024 (in English)
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