Democracy and the Rule Of Law
Tanzania, under President Magufuli has been ranked the best democracy in the East Africa Community (EAC) by the Democracy Index 2017 titled, “Free speech under attack.”
The ranking is done by the Intelligence Unit of the The Economist which assesses the state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories.
The index is based on five things:
- The electoral process and Pluralism
- Civil liberties
- Functioning of the government
- Political Participation and
- Political culture
Based on their scores on 60 indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as a full or flawed democracy, hybrid regime or an authoritarian regime.
With a score of 5.47, Tanzania is classified as a hybrid regime as are Kenya and Uganda which scored 5.11 and 5.09 respectively.
Using the above criteria, the index has placed Kenya second and Uganda third in East Africa. When it comes to the wider Sub-Sahara Africa, Mauritius was ranked the best, Tanzania emerged number 13 while Kenya and Uganda are ranked 15 and 17, respectively.
Of the 167 countries reviewed globally, Tanzania is ranked 91, Norway is number 1, the best democracy in the world, while North Korea is the last and is classified as an authoritarian regime.
Director of Tanzania Information Services, Dr Hassan Abbas made the official announcement on Tuesday and took the opportunity to praise fellow government workers and public servants in general.
Dr Abbas who is also the Chief Government Spokesperson asked public servants to keep up the good work and continue to dedicate their services to the people because, “…your services to the people are recognised and appreciated globally.”
World Facing Worst State of Democracy
However, while Tanzania celebrates top ranking, the Index actually reports the worst decline in global democracy in recent years.
In this tenth edition of the Index; “In 2017, not a single region recorded an improvement in its average score compared with 2016. The average regional score for North America (Canada and the US) remained the same. All the other six regions experienced a regression, as signified by a decline in their regional average score.”
In the 2017 Democracy Index the average global score fell from 5.52 in 2016 to 5.48 (on a scale of 0 to 10).
Some 89 countries experienced a decline in their total score compared with 2016, more than three times as many as the countries that recorded an improvement (27), the worst performance since 2010 in the aftermath of the global economic and financial crisis.
The other 51 countries stagnated, as their scores remained unchanged compared with 2016.
The 2017 Index has a special focus on the state of media freedom around the world and the challenges facing freedom of speech.
Best 5 Democracies
- Norway
- Iceland
- Sweden
- New Zealand
- Denmark
Worst 5 Democracies
- North Korea
- Syria
- Chad
- Central African Republic
