For the first time since 2008, The Economist magazine has upgraded Greece to the category of “full democracy” in its annual report “Democracy Index” for 2023, putting Greece one category above the United States and EU member-states such as Italy, Belgium and Portugal, which are considered “flawed democracies”.
Hellas scored 8.14 out of 10, ranking twentieth out of 167 countries and regions examined by The Economist’s Intelligence Unit arm. Australia is in an even better position. It ranks 14th, six places above Greece.
“The birthplace of democracy has reason to celebrate,” the report said.
Greece was one of the few democracies that improved their ranking by 0.17 points compared to 2022.
It even scored an absolute ten on holding elections and pluralism, an achievement shared by only a dozen other countries, and 8.82 in the subcategory on civil liberties.
In practice, this means that Greece is in a tiny category of countries with the best democratic performance, with less than 8 per cent of people in the countries assessed living in a “full democracy”.
In contrast, almost 40 per cent live in countries with authoritarian regimes. Greece’s performance in 2023 is the best since the Democracy Index started publishing 18 years ago.
Greece’s worst scores, between 7.23 and 7.29, were recorded under the SYRIZA-Annel government in the three years between 2016 and 2018. Greece’s upgrade takes on even greater significance given that it comes at a time when democracy is under pressure globally, with the Economist noting that on all continents except Europe, scores are worse compared to 2022.
The average global score for 2023 was 5.23, the worst average level in the index’s history. Western Europe, which includes Greece, remains the most democratic region in the world, with 71 per cent of its countries considered “full democracies”.
The leader in our region is Turkey, classified as a “hybrid regime”.
The Economist refers to the introduction of the postal vote, highlighting that Greeks of the Diaspora are invited to vote from their residence. In contrast, previously, they would have had to travel to Greece on election day to exercise their right to vote.
