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| Image: Wiki Commons |
By John Power
A report from the Economist Intelligence Unit declares that South Korea is no longer a full democracy.
In a region dominated by autocratic governments, South Korea has been held up as a shining example of a liberal Asian democracy. But a report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit on Thursday has dealt a blow to that image with its finding that the country is no longer a “full democracy.”
In its Democracy Index 2015, released Thursday, the research and analysis firm found the country to have regressed to a “flawed democracy” last year. Among 167 states and territories, South Korea ranked the 22nd most democratic, just outside the top-20 grouping of “full democracies.”
The EIU defined flawed democracies as countries where there were “free and fair elections and, even if there are problems (such as infringements on media freedom), basic civil liberties are respected,” but democratic weaknesses remained. Such flaws included “problems in governance, an underdeveloped political culture, and low levels of political participation.”
Countries were given a score of between 0 and 10 based on their performance across five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. These categories were assessed using 60 indicators, including public faith in government, the pervasiveness of corruption, and the existence of free and fair elections.
Read the full story at The Diplomat