Saudi observers say Shawwal crescent may be visible on Saturday    Tourism Ministry enforces closure orders, warns violators of penalties    King Salman, Crown Prince extend condolences to Thailand's king over earthquake victims    Elon Musk's xAI acquires X in all-stock deal    Makkah and Madinah mobile data usage exceeds global average during Ramadan: CST    US, Japan mark 80th anniversary of Iwo Jima battle with memorial service    Trump signals openness to auto tariff deal    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Trump renews push to acquire Greenland    Myanmar earthquake death toll climbs to 144    Over 2.5 million attend Khatm Al-Qur'an prayers in Makkah    World's largest barbershop opens at Clock Towers Center in Makkah to serve pilgrims    Saudi non-oil exports jump 10.7% in January    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    T1 CEO confirms Gumayusi's return for LCK Spring after lineup shakeup    100 Thieves claim Marvel Rivals Invitational NA crown as 2025 scene heats up    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Saudi Arabia hold Japan to goalless draw in Saitama to stay in World Cup hunt    Disney's Snow White film tops box office despite bad reviews    NewJeans announces hiatus after setback in court battle    George Foreman, heavyweight champion and cultural icon, dies at 76    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Europe maintains fragile democratic stability amid global decline, new study finds
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 27 - 02 - 2025

Despite divisions between east and west, Europe's standards of functioning democracy remain high, even as global standards decline, according to a study released on Thursday by the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The latest Democracy Index shows that after a year of elections worldwide, global democracy has weakened, with 2024 continuing a trend of "democratic malaise", the report finds.
"While autocracies seem to be gaining strength, as shown by the index trend since 2006, the world's democracies are struggling," Joan Hoey, director for the Democracy Index said in a release.
The annual study assesses five categories — electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of government, political participation, political culture — giving each country a score out of 10.
Based on this, countries are classified as full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, or authoritarian regimes. This year, Norway topped the rankings with 9.81, while Afghanistan ranked lowest at 0.25.
The sharpest declines were in government functioning and electoral process, with the average for the latter falling by 0.08 points compared to 2023, which the study considers "was especially disappointing given that so many countries went to the polls in 2024".
Europe presented a mixed picture. Eastern Europe saw a slight decline, while Western Europe improved by a marginal 0.01 points.
Nine of the world's top ten democracies are in Europe, with New Zealand the only exception in second place.
Western Europe remains the highest-rated region and the only one to recover to pre-pandemic levels. However, the report highlights widespread public discontent, fuelling a shift towards anti-mainstream parties.
According to the study, "this dissatisfaction is fuelling a growing shift towards anti-mainstream parties, a trend widely illustrated by the many elections across the continent in 2024". It adds that these elections were marked by a clear rejection of incumbent leaders and a surge in support for anti-establishment and populist political forces.
There were notable shifts within the region: Portugal was upgraded to a "full democracy", while France slipped into the "flawed" category.
Portugal was first downgraded in 2011 and recovered the status of a "full democracy" in 2019. However, the EUI after considering the limitations on personal freedom resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic downgraded it again in 2020.
France has also been close to the threshold score of 8.00 that separates "full" from "flawed democracies", falling to the second category in 2010-13, 2015-18 and 2020-21, during what the EUI classifies as "periods of political turbulence in which the administration has faced widespread social unrest and/or internal divisions over policy, which undermined governance".
The report concludes that France's downgrade this year reflects a deterioration in the score for confidence in government.
Eastern Europe, grouped with Central Asia in the report, saw "the mildest regression of any region" declining by 0.02 points, to 5.35.
This region saw a milestone as the Czech Republic and Estonia were upgraded from "flawed democracies" to "full democracies", gaining full democratic rating for the first time since 2013 when Czech Republic fell from the top category.
By contrast, this year saw Romania downgraded from "flawed democracy" to "hybrid regime" status, after the cancellation of the presidential election resulted in the country dropping 12 places in the ranking. — Euronews


Clic here to read the story from its source.