The Economist Intelligence Unit published its annual Democracy Index last week, ranking countries around the world based on metrics such as governance, political participation, and civil liberties.
The Latin American and Caribbean region remained largely unchanged, scoring an average of 6.4 among the countries – with the score of eight to 10 being a “full democracy” and anything less than four being an “authoritarian regime.”
However, Costa Rica was downgraded from a “full” to a “flawed democracy” (a score of 6 to 7.9), leaving Uruguay as the region’s only full democracy.
Other countries that slipped in the index were Ecuador, Brazil and Mexico.
The Virgin Islands and most other overseas countries and territories were not included in the index – the report ranked 165 independent states and only two territories – making Jamaica’s the Caribbean’s highest ranked jurisdiction with a score of 7.39.
A summary of the report noted that the one country from South America to rise in the rankings was Argentina. The five others to improve were all from Central America and the Caribbean.
See the Jan. 28, 2016 edition for full coverage.
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