The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU) published its Democracy Index (the “Index”) for the year 2022, an edition which generated high expectations for its analysis of the state of global democracy after major lifting of pandemic- related curbs worldwide.
By assessing the scores across five categories – electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties – the Index classifies each country under four types of regimes, namely:
- Full democracy;
- Flawed democracy;
- Hybrid regime; and
- Authoritarian regime
At the 21st spot, and with an overall score of 8.14, Mauritius enters the rank of “full democracy” and remains the only nation in Africa to fall under this regime. This prime position is testament to how Mauritius emerges as a robust democratic and economic model in the region as it depicts the country faring as well as member countries of the G20 ranked in the Top 20
(Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom).
From a more global perspective, the Index which provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide across 165 independent states and two territories further highlights that 72 out of these countries/territories covered can be democracies.