The Economist Intelligence Unit has just released its "Democracy Index 2024." The index provides a snapshot of the state of democracy in 165 independent states and two territories. The index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. Each country is classified as one of four types of regime: full democracy (25 countries), flawed democracy (46), hybrid regime (36), or authoritarian regime (60).
The index ranks 50 African countries. The only one in the full democracy category is Mauritius (#20). Six are flawed democracies: Botswana (#35), Cabo Verde (#37), South Africa (#43), Namibia (#58), Ghana (#65), and Lesotho (#70). Sixteen are hybrid regimes and 27 are authoritarian regimes. In Africa, the Central African Republic (#164) is at the bottom and Sudan is not much better (#162).
By comparison, the United States is a flawed democracy at number 28 and China is an authoritarian regime at number 145.
