Democracies will thrive, says Freedom House

Economic meltdown will not lead to the regression of democracy around the world. Such was the prediction at a discussion organized by Freedom House in Washington yesterday marking the launch of its latest survey Freedom in the World 2009.

Thomas Carothers of the Carnegie Endowment, who recently delivered an uncompromising lunch lecture at NIMD told guests that although the economic crisis has prompted protests, and governments may fall in fragile democracies, democratic polities will likely endure. Systemic failure is not an option.

He echoed Freedom House's observation that democracy remains "the only system of government that demands global respect."

Eighty-nine of 193 countries surveyed were deemed to be free - representing 46 per cent of humanity, while some 42 states are "not free", accounting for 34 per cent, although China, accounts for nearly three-fifths of that total.

Key global findings include:

• Free: The number of countries judged by Freedom in the World as Free in 2008 stands at 89, representing 46 percent of the world's countries and 46 percent of the global population. The number of Free countries declined by one from 2007.

• Partly Free: The number of Partly Free countries is 62, or 32 percent of all countries assessed by the survey and 20 percent of the world's total population. The number of Partly Free countries increased by two.

• Not Free: The report designates 42 countries as Not Free, representing 22 percent of the total number of countries and 34 percent of the world population. Nearly 60 percent of this number lives in China. The number of Not Free countries declined by one.

• Electoral Democracies: The number of electoral democracies dropped by two and stands at 119. Developments in Mauritania, Georgia, Venezuela and Central African Republic disqualified them from the electoral democracy list, while Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bangladesh became electoral democracies.