www.earthfiles.de

[Solve et Coagula]

TOP 10 DEMOCRACIES

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's index of democracy (PDF):

1. Sweden
2. Iceland
3. Netherlands
4. Norway
5. Denmark
6. Finland
7. Luxembourg
8. Australia
9. Canada
10. Switzerland

The US manages to come in at 17, with the UK following up at 23. The report goes on to comment that:

"the United States and Britain are near the bottom of the full democracy category, but for somewhat different reasons. America falls down on some aspects of governance and civil liberties. Despite low election turnouts, political participation in the United States is comparatively high. In Britain low political participation (the lowest in the developed world) is a major problem, and to a lesser extent, for now, so are eroding civil liberties."

http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/DEMOCRACY_INDEX_2007_v3.pdf