Lands of the Free

The weekly quiz is provided by the Globalist, a daily online feature service that covers issues and trends in globalization. The nonpartisan organization provides commercial services and nonprofit educational features.

Question A quarter-century ago, after the end of the Cold War, there were high hopes for a sweeping global transition toward democracy. This trend has not only come to a standstill, but appears to be in the process of reversing. We wonder: What percentage of the 195countries in the world ranked as free in 2016?

Answer A. 25% B. 30% C. 45% D. 70%

A 25% is not correct:

In 2016, 49 of 195 countries or 25% were ranked as “not free,” according to Freedom House. Back in 1990, 50 countries ranked as not free (30% of the global total). Freedom House tracks the expansion of democracy and political rights globally. The organization’s assessment includes factors such as pluralism and political participation, rule of law, individual liberties and freedom of expression. The region with the highest percentage of its countries ranked not free is the Middle East / North Africa. Twelve of the 18 countries in the region or two-thirds are non-free. The next-poorest performer is the former Soviet “Eurasia” region, with 7 of 12 countries in the region in total (close to 60%). Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of countries considered non-free, with 20 such countries of 49 in the region in total. However, on a proportional basis, that is just above 40%.

The Asia-Pacific region, without the Middle East or former Soviet Republics, had eight non-free countries out of 39, i.e. about 20%.

The worst countries in the Freedom House rankings were generally active total war zones (e.g. Syria, South Sudan and Somalia) or closed-off regimes (e.g. as North Korea, Eritrea and Uzbekistan).

Many countries in the non-free category have an average per capita income of less than $1,000 annually. Saudi Arabia, the 11thlowest performer overall, is the country with the highest per capita income in this category ($23,550).

B 30% is not correct:

There were 59 “partly free” countries in 2016 (or 30% of the global total), according to Freedom House. This is the same proportion overall as back in 1990 and a decade ago. This overall percentage cannot mask problematic developments in specific countries, however. The steepest 2016 decline in annual freedom score of any country came in “partly free” Turkey, after a failed coup spurred tens of thousands of arrests of opposition figures and great interference in the country’s media sector. Turkey’s score declined by 15 points in 2016 alone — from 53 to 38 out of 100. As recently as 2006, Turkey had scored a 66 out of 100.

Over the past 10 years, Turkey ranked among the countries with the steepest declines alongside recently failed or fragile states such as Central African Republic, Mali, Burundi and Mauritania. Several other partly free countries with electoral democracies, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, also show troubling signs of democratic institutions deteriorating. More rigid versions of Islam are entering the political spheres there.

Nearby Philippines, also partly free, began what seems likely to be a steep decline in its score, as President Rodrigo Duterte initiated an open campaign of extrajudicial killings by police.

C 45% is correct: In 2016, 87 countries were ranked as free by Freedom House (or 45% of the global total). Ten years ago, 90 countries had ranked as free (47% of the global total) a slight decline.

The biggest downward slide over 10 years in index scores among free countries came in Hungary, where a freely elected government with authoritarian tendencies has eroded institutions and consolidated power. Hungary’s score fell 16 points from 2006 to 2016 from 92 to 76.

It is to be expected that the 2017 report from Freedom House will also show a decline in the score of the United States, due to the policies of the Trump Administration. Its 2016 index score was 89 out of 100.

D 70% is not correct:

Of the 195 countries in the world (ranked by both World Bank and Freedom House), 136 countries or 70% — are what the World Bank considers upper-middle-, lower-middleor low-income countries (with percentages of 28%, 27% and 15% each). In contrast, 59 countries or 30% — qualify as highincome.

Most high-income countries today are rated as free societies by Freedom House. Notable exceptions are the oil-rich autocracies of Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Brunei and Equatorial Guinea. However, the total number of free countries in the world exceeds that of high-income countries by about 50%. That means there are many less wealthy countries that rate as free, too. India, for example, scored quite well in the 2016 Freedom House report, but is a lower-middle income economy, according to the World Bank. South Africa and Brazil are upper-middle-income and scored well in 2016, too.

The 29 countries considered to be low-income are mostly located in subSaharan Africa. Among them, Benin stands out because it is ranked in the free category. Of the rest, 16 are partially free countries (such as Liberia and Tanzania), while 12 are “not free” countries (such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo).