Armenia ranks first in region in Democracy Index by The Economist  Intelligence Unit

ArmInfo.Armenia ranks first in the region in the Democracy Index, and among the countries with a hybrid system of government. This is evidenced by the data of  the Democracy Index - 2021, published by The Economist Intelligence  Unit.

According to the study, electoral processes and pluralism in Armenia  are rated at 5.5 points, government effectiveness - 5.71 points,  political activity - 6.11 points, political culture - 3.13, and civil  freedom - 5 points. Thus, Armenia's overall score is 5.49 points and  89th in the 2021 Democracy Index. Thus, according to the Index,  Armenia ranks first in the region. Georgia, which is also on the list  of countries with a hybrid government system, is in 91st place with a  total score of 5.12. Neighboring Turkey - with 4.35 points, ranks  103rd.

Among the authoritarian regimes are Algeria, Egypt, Rwanda, Vietnam  and China, as well as Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and all the states  of Central Asia.

Among the 167 countries of the world, Norway ranks first (9.75  points), followed by New Zealand (9.37), Finland (9.27), Sweden  (9.26), Iceland (9.18) and Denmark (9.09). Germany is in 15th place  with a score of 8.67 points. The last places in the ranking are Syria  and the Central African Republic (1.43 points each), the Democratic  Republic of the Congo (1.40), North Korea (1.08), Myanmar (1.02) and  Afghanistan (0.32).

The Index divides countries into four groups: absolute democracy,  imperfect democracy, hybrid system of government, authoritarian  regime. When compiling the report, experts take into account five  main factors:  electoral processes - pluralism, government  efficiency, political activity, political culture, civil liberties.   According to a study by The Economist, less than half of the world's  population lived in democracy in 2021, with only 21 out of 167  countries achieving "full democracy" status, according to a study by  The Economist. The overall global democracy index fell from 5.37 in  2020 to 5.28 last year, the biggest annual decline since 2010. It is  also noted that the results reflect the negative impact of the  pandemic on democracy and freedom for the second year in a row and  point to a sharp expansion of state power and the erosion of  individual freedoms. Countries with a score above 6.0 are classified  as democracies.