Asia remains the world’s most dynamic region by way of economic growth but still lags in democratization. According to the most recent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2023, released on Thursday, February 15, South Asia and Southeast Asia scored the bottom of all sub-regions on the continent.
The index covers five criteria: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of the presidency, political participation, political culture and civil liberties.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia ranks first amongst eleven countries, but ranks only fortieth out of 167 countries worldwide on the Democracy Index. Malaysia’s rating of 7.29 out of 10 saw a slight decline from the previous 12 months’ rating of 7.30. In the Asia-Australasia region, Malaysia ranks sixth, behind Israel, Botswana and Italy, that are also classified as “flawed democracies”.
Other Southeast Asian countries included on this index are East Timor (forty-fifth), Philippines (53rd), Indonesia (56th with a rating of 6.53), Thailand (63rd), Singapore (69th ), Vietnam (ranked 69th). 136th), Laos (159th place) and Burma (166th place).
These countries are described as flawed democracies through which, although they hold free and fair elections and protect basic civil rights, there are significant weaknesses in other areas, reminiscent of governance, an underdeveloped political culture and low levels of political participation.
Malaysia scores highest in electoral process and pluralism with a rating of 9.58, but performs worst in civil liberties with a rating of 5.88. Compared to Indonesia and Singapore, and former colonizer Japan, Malaysia is on the forefront of the electoral process. However, countries such as Papua New Guinea, East Timor, the Philippines and Singapore rated higher on civil liberties.
The report also mentioned that Thailand, which dropped eight places to 63rd, continues to be under the influence of the military presence.
The EIU said in its report that assessing Asia and Australasia on a sub-region basis revealed significant disparities in the standard of governance, democratic freedoms and social cohesion across the region. South Asia and Southeast Asia previously had bottom scores of all sub-regions on the continent, and declining rates in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
The report also indicated that among the causes of Asia’s decline lately is the erosion of civil liberties. Some governments cite concerns about national security and social stability to justify restrictions on freedom of speech and media.
Overall, of the 165 independent countries and two territories, 50 countries are classified as flawed democracies, while only 24 countries are considered full democracies, including Greece, which has returned to the complete democracy category.
In the Asia-Australasia region, more than half of the entire 15 countries saw their performance deteriorate, while only eight countries managed to enhance their performance. However, on a worldwide scale, the situation isn’t higher. In 2023, the Global Democracy Score fell to 5.23 from 5.29 the previous 12 months, a brand new low for the reason of the introduction of the EIU Index in 2006.
Globally, only 32 countries managed to enhance their Index scores in 2023, although in many cases the gains were small and sometimes low. Meanwhile, 68 countries saw their Index scores decline.
The EIU awards “full democracy” status to countries that achieve a rating of 8 or above. Meanwhile, values starting from 7.99 to 5.99 are called “flawed democracy”. Countries whose rating between 5.99 and 3.96 are classified as “hybrid regimes”, indicating a bent towards authoritarian rule.
Overall, Norway leads with the best rating (9.81), followed by New Zealand (9.61), Iceland (9.45), Sweden (9.39) and Finland (9.30). The Democracy Index report examines the connection between democracy, peace and current triggers of geopolitical conflict.
