In the latest Democracy Index 2018 (Created in 2006) published by The Economist Intelligence Unit Haiti ranks 21st out of 24 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America region ahead of Nicaragua (22nd), Venezuela (23rd) and Cuba (24th and last in the rankings).

This index is based on 60 criteria grouped into five categories : the electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture. The scoring is done on a scale from 0 to 10 and from this note the countries are classified in four categories : full democracy, imperfect democracy, hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

In this index 2018 : 20 countries are classified as full democracies, 59 as imperfect democracies, 37 are hybrid regimes and 51 authoritarian regimes.

With an overall score of 4.90 out of 10 Haiti is not classified as democracy but is in the category of of hybrid regimes in the world ranking 102 of 167 countries.

In this category, (score 4 to 6) are countries where substantial irregularities exist in elections, regularly preventing them from being fair and free. These countries generally have governments that exert pressure on non-independent political opponents and judiciaries. These countries have an underdeveloped political culture, problems of governance and corruption, harassment and pressure on the media are common among others...

Our neighbor, the Dominican Republic, 13th in the Caribbean and Latin America region and 61st globally, scores 6.54 out of 10 overall and is ranked in the category of imperfect democracies (score of 6 to 8).

In this category are countries where elections are free and fair and where basic civil liberties are respected but may present problems (eg violation of freedom of the media). These countries have significant shortcomings in other democratic aspects, including an underdeveloped political culture and governance issues, among others.

In the Caribbean zone and Latin America only Costa Rica is classified in the full democracy category.

Norway, Iceland and Sweden occupy the first 3 places on the podium.

SL/ HaitiLibre