A well functioning democracy conforms to Plato’s concept of “ruled by the governed”. The exact definition, however, is still the subject of academic debate; application around the world varies immensely.
The ECONOMIST’s Intelligence Unit has developed an index of democracy, which is, by its own description, “thick”. Its newly published 2007 Democracy Index makes fascinating reading and provides an informative snapshot of the state of freedom and liberty in the world today. Some of the country rankings are predictable; others are a surprise. The table below lists countries that rated best and worst on the democracy index.
The full report is well worth reading and can be found here as a pdf document. The Methodology section on page 8 is tedious but is a testament to the thoroughness of the index. Thick indeed.
America ranks 17th on the list and it is my prediction that although it is very likely to remain on the list as a full democracy in future editions of this report, it may tumble further down and go below a score of 8.0.
Joseph Froncioni
That Sweden is at the top of this list points to the fallibility of even a 'thick' study.
The dominant ideology in Sweden, which has been made dominant by subtle methods of silencing and repression, is a totalitarian ideology, where the elites oppose the national aspect of the nation state. The problem is that the ethnic group that are described as Swedes implicitly are considered to be nationalists, and thereby are viewed as racists. Swedes are coerced into accepting a multiculturalism which demands nothing of their new guests and every concession of the Swedes.
This is a government that knows perfectly well that their people will become a minority in their own country, yet is doing nothing to stop this. On the contrary. Pierre Schori, Minister for immigration, during a parliamentary debate in 1997 said that: “Racism and xenophobia should be banned and chased [away],” and that one should not accept “excuses, such as that there were flaws in the immigration and refugee policies.”
Jens Orback, Minister for Democracy, Metropolitan Affairs, Integration and Gender Equality from the Social Democratic Party said during a debate in Swedish radio in 2004 that “We must be open and tolerant towards Islam and Muslims because when we become a minority, they will be so towards us.”
Opposition to this policy is considered a form of racism and the population is ruled by an irrational fear of being perceived as 'un-pc'.
Native Swedes have thus been reduced to just another ethnic group in Sweden, with no more claim to the country than the Kurds or the Somalis who arrived there last Thursday. The political authorities of the country have erased their own people's history and culture.
Sweden was presented during the Cold War as a middle way between capitalism and Communism. When this model of a society collapses – and it will collapse, under the combined forces of Islamic Jihad, the European Union, Multiculturalism and ideological overstretch – it is thus not just the Swedish state that will collapse but the symbol of Sweden, the showcase of an entire ideological world view.
The country that gave us Bergman, ABBA and Volvo could become known as the Bosnia of northern Europe, and the “Swedish model” will be one of warning against ideological madness, not one of admiration. I fear Sweden has already started its decline on the so called 'democracy index'
Posted by: JamesM | September 18, 2007 at 05:56 PM
It's hard to take seriously a report that considers the US a full democracy.
How should one categorize a country with significant import and travel restrictions, with a questionable vote-tallying system, poor electoral participation, and a serious rift between the legislative and executive branches of its government?
Posted by: AndyF | September 05, 2007 at 04:58 PM