Essay: Freedom House

Political scientists love to examine the efficiency of democratic systems in various states internationally to compare and contrast what methods work, the efficiency of economic reform, and how each state can effectively work towards adopting a better working democratic institution. After conducting research on both the Freedom House and Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index (BTI), one can say that even though their democracy rankings agree, they determine democracy using different factors. This paper will be comparing and contrasting the democracy ratings given to 10 different countries by both The Freedom House and Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index (BTI).
Freedom House was established in October of 1941 under the Roosevelt administration. It is a watchdog NGO (non-governmental organization) whose purpose is to conduct research and spread advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. The Freedom House recognizes that civil liberties, as well as political rights, are more common in democratic political environments that adhere to Robert Dahl’s seven essential conditions. The democracy ranking conducted by the Freedom House allows for the United States and other countries to tackle the decline of freedom and maintain it’s progress outside of our borders. “Freedom in the World” is a yearly report conducted by the Freedom House that assesses how democratic a country is. A team of over 100 analysts and 30 advisors score each country based on their political rights and civil liberties. Alongside the numerical ratings, are descriptive texts that have used news articles, academic analyses, and even professional contacts to better explain why each country received its score. Freedom House staff then conduct regional meetings in which they sit and deliberate the scores, coming to an unbiased consensus.
Freedom House uses scores, ratings, and statuses to demonstrate a country’s level of democracy. The scores consist of 10 political rights and 15 civil liberties indicators. Each of the indicators is scored on a level of 0-4, 0 being that there is no degree of freedom and 4 the greatest degree of freedom. Political rights are further broken down into three subcategories: Electoral Process ( consists of 3 questions), Political Pluralism and Participation ( consists of 4 questions), and Functioning of Government (consists of 3 questions). There is also a discretionary question that allows for the subtraction of 1-4 points, the worse the situation correlates to how many points are subtracted. The highest score that a country can be scored for political rights is a 40. The civil liberties are further broken down into 4 subcategories: Freedom of Expression and Belief (consists of 4 questions), Associational and Organizational Rights (consists of 3 questions), Rule of Law (consists of 4 questions), and Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights (consists of 4 questions). The highest score awarded for civil liberties is a 60, meaning that they were rated a score of 4 on each of the 15 questions. Scores only generally change when there has been a real-world development responsible for impeding or improving democracy in a country.
The scores given to a country based on political rights and civil liberties directly correlate to what they are rated. They are given two ratings on a scale of 1-7, 1 being the greatest level of freedom and 7 representing the smallest level of freedom. The average rating of a country determines their freedom rating, this informs us whether they are free (1.0-2.5), partly free (3.0-5.0) or not free (5.5-7.0).  If you take a look at Table’s 1 and 2, you’ll see how their scores are taken and condensed into a rating. Freedom House designated some countries as electoral democracies if they have met a certain minimum for political rights and civil liberties. An electoral democracy is not to be confused for a liberal democracy, that’d be implying that said country had a wider array of both civil liberties and political rights. According to Freedom in the World, countries that are freer tend to have liberal democracies, while Partly Free countries have electoral democracies, never liberal.
Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent organization located in Gütersloh, Germany whose purpose is to promote reformation processes to create a future-oriented society. They are committed to strengthening democracy both in Germany and internationally through the promotion of citizen participation in policymaking. For years they have contributed to the Europeans Union’s promotion of European integration. They are still developing policies and proposals for international governments in attempts to strengthen democracy outside of Europe.
The Bertelsmann Stiftung Transformation Index (BTI) was introduced in 2006 by Bertelsmann Stiftung and is published every two years. It’s a comparative study on 129 countries and several transitioning territories, discussing their State of Political Transformation, State of Economic Transformation, and Governance Index. A team of almost 300 experts consisting of local reporters and educators in top academic institutions work together, comparing the strengths and weaknesses of each democratic state. Each regional team is responsible for the calibration and preparation of each countries report. After careful deliberation, the regional teams send their reports and it is added on to the BTI. The transformation index uses a total of 17 criteria to assess the extent of each countries level of democracy according to the codebook. The codebook uses the status index whose two subcategories are state of political transformation and state of economic transformation, and the governance index which measures the quality of political leadership.
The state of economic transformation is measured on a scale of 7 criteria that uses 14
indicators. To measure economic transformation, the BTI uses more than economic performance. It also considers abstract components like social inclusion and equality of opportunity. Another factor of consideration is how a country is trying to decrease levels of poverty and give citizens a freedom of choice. The seven criteria are: Levels of Socioeconomic Development (consists of 1 question), Organization of the Market and Competition (consists of 4 questions), Currency and Price Stability (consists of 2 questions), Private Property (consists of 2 questions), Welfare Regime (consists of 2 questions), Economic Performance (consists of 1 question), and Sustainability( consists of 2 questions). The state of political transformation is measured on a scale of five criteria that uses 18 indicators. The BTI believes that stateness is a prerequisite for democracy, and it goes beyond basic civil liberties and free elections. The five criteria are Stateness ( consists of 4 questions), Political Participation ( consists of 4 questions), Rule of Law ( consists of 4 questions), Stability of Democratic Institutions ( consists of 2 questions)and Political and Social integration( consists of 4 questions). These are put in place to measure social capital, approval of democracy and the quality of representation.
The Governance Index is measured on a scale of 5 criteria that consist of 20 indicators. Its purpose is to measure the effectiveness of countries policy makers and their development processes, measuring how their success affects the country’s democracy and economy. The categories used are Level of Difficulty( consists of 6 questions), Steering Capability( consists of 3 questions), Resource Efficiency( consists of 3 questions), Consensus Building ( consists of 5 questions), and International Cooperation( consists of 3 questions). The BTI also considers structural constraints and scarcity of resources that inhibit a country from obtaining a higher score. The Status Index is calculated by averaging the scores of economic and political transformation while the Governance index is calculated by the criteria in its category. The ratings in the political transformation category allow for BTI to categorize countries and territories as either Democracies or Autocracies. A country is considered an autocracy if it fails to meet the minimum requirements. They have concluded that all failing states can be safely considered as autocracies.
The first country I’ll be examining is Cote D’Ivoire. Freedom House gave it an aggregate score of 51 out of 100, meaning that it is a partly free state and leaning towards an electoral democracy. It was rated a 4/7 on its political rights because it does a moderate job at protecting its citizens’ political rights. For Civil Liberties, it was also given a 4/7 on civil liberties meaning that is doing a moderate job at protecting all civil liberties. The BTI uses a 10 point scale, and Cote D’Ivoire was rated a 5.38 on its status index and a 5.54 on its Governance Index. According to the BTI, Cote D’Ivoire saw an increase in some aspects of political and economic transformation while some remain stagnant. Both Freedom House and BTI agree that Cote D’Ivoire has been growing steadily towards a peaceful democracy and is just suffering from the aftermath of the Ivorian Crisis in 2010-2011 which includes nationality conflict, low voter turnout, and militia groups gerrymandering. For economic transformations, Cote D’Ivoire saw a GDP growth of 8.8% in 2016, giving it one of the fastest growing economies internationally.
Senegal is noted as one of Africa’s most stable democracies by both Freedom House and BTI. The Freedom House recognizes Senegal as a liberal democracy with slightly weaker political rights due to the corruption of political officials and the influence of marabouts. It also has slightly weaker civil liberty due to infringement of rights on media outlets, child labor issues, and sex trafficking. Senegal got a total aggregate score of 75 out of 100. It was rated a 2/7 on both political rights and civil liberties by the Freedom House. The BTI gave them a 6.18 on their status index and a 6.7 on governance index. They were rated a 7.1 on political transformation because they have high levels of political participation and democracy implemented, they just don’t have as many economic opportunities to increase the score of their status index. BTI claims that Senegal needs a GDP growth of 7% to keep up with it’s growing population.
Both the Freedom House and BTI agree that Ethiopia is an authoritarian state with declining democracy giving it an aggregate score of 12 out of 100. Even though they have voted to lift the Draconian-like rule, conditions have not improved at all leading to it being scored a 7/7 on political rights and a 6/7 on civil liberties. This means citizens in Ethiopia have little to no political rights or civil liberties due to extreme restrictive governments and government oppression. BTI rated them 3.33 on their status index because they have seen a decline in their state identity, in election processes assembly rights and seen stagnation in their socioeconomic barriers. Even though they saw a GDP increase of 7.6% in 2016, they suffer from wealth inequality and is one of the poorest countries in the world. Ethiopia was scored 3.65 on their Governance Index since their authoritative government caused their regression as a democratic state.
Ghana is another one of Africa’s democratic countries that is able to hold free and fair elections with multiple parties. The Freedom House gave Ghana an aggregate score of 83 out of 100, it’s political rights score 1 out of 7. This was due to lack of women representation in government, slight corruption and slight opacity of information. Ghana’s civil rights score was a 2 out of 7 due to slight government oppression on the rights of media and violation of Muslim children’s religious freedom. The category of personal autonomy wasn’t scored as high due to female genital mutilation and economic exploitation. BTI gave Ghana a 6.75 on its status index because they saw a decrease in interference of religious dogma and prosecution of office abuse. Ghana’s economic transformation was inhibited due to their inability to adjust economically. Their governance index was scored 6.18 because of their lack of financial discipline and prioritization of obtaining resources.
The Democratic Republic of Congo is recognized as an authoritarian state by both the Freedom House and BTI. It was given an aggregate score of 17 out of 100 due to government corruption, citizens are unable to express their civil liberties due to government repression and increasing human right abuses. They were rated a 7/7 on political rights because of their current president Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step out of office and the displacement of nearly 4 million residents of the Greater Kasai Region. They were given a 6/7 on civil liberties because their media outlets are severely repressed as well as freedom of speech. BTI has rated RDC’S status index a 3.13 due to their repression of basic assembly rights and stagnation of socioeconomic barriers. Their governance index was scored a 2.47 due to lack of citizen participation in economic endeavors and credibility. Their GDP in 2016 was 2.4% which has to increase in order to battle poverty.
Morocco is recognized as a partly free electoral democracy by the Freedom House with an aggregate score of 39 out of 100. They hold multiparty elections and have made reforms to lessen the monarch’s power, but still feel the dominance of King Mohammed VI. Morocco was given a 5/7 on its political rights due to the monarch’s disregard for the elected legislature and lack of political participation from certain groups of people. They were also scored a 5/7 on civil liberties due to lack of autonomy and individual rights. BTI rated Morocco’s status index a 4.61 only because their democracy has been declining and there has been stagnation in the prosecution of office abuse. Economically, their currency is stable even though their socioeconomic barriers have been stagnant since 2006, with a GDP growth of 1.1% in 2016. Their governance index was rated a 4.3 due to resource inefficiency and anti-democratic actors. Morocco saw a decrease in its democratic score due to harsh state responses towards demonstrations on police brutality in the Kif region.
South Africa is recognized as a liberal democracy by the Freedom House and was given an aggregate score of 78 out of 100. They deal with some of the highest violence rates globally and corruption in the government. They were given a political rights rating of 2/7 due to increasing strain between political parties and corruption through non-elected government actors. They were rated a 2/7 on civil rights as well due to police torture and a 27% increase in crime reports. BTI rated South Africa’s status index 6.96, with political transformation rated 7.6. South Africa has a high stability of democratic institutions and political participation. Their economic transformation suffers from poverty, inequality, and unemployment and they barely saw GDP growth in 2016. Their Governance index was rated a 5.96 due to semi-efficient use of resources and increasing cost of living. South Africa must obtain a stable 5.4% GDP in order to decrease poverty, inequality, and unemployment.
The Freedom House recognizes Mali as a partly free electoral democracy, giving it an aggregate score of 44 out of 100. Mali has transitioned from an authoritarian state and is building up its democratic institutions but it displays signs of state fragility which was a catalyst for the 2012 Coup D’etat. Mali has a political rights rating of 5/7 due to the low voter turnout rate ( fragile security), delayed elections, and weak political parties. Mali was given a civil liberties rating of 4.7 due to the intimidation of journalists and a decrease in freedom of expression for media outlets. They also are victim to Islamic militant groups who disturb the peace and violate several human rights laws. The BTI scored Mali’s status index a 5.14. Their political transformation was rated 5.95 due to the increase of religious institutions interfering in state affairs and assembly rights dwindling. Economic transformation was scored a 4.32 due to the stagnation of their socioeconomic barriers, Mali suffers from multidimensional poverty and food insecurity. 77% of Mali has been living on less than $3.10 daily while 50.6% of Malians are living on less than $1.25 daily. Their governance index was scored 5.17.
Algeria is categorized as an autocracy by the Freedom House with an aggregate score of 35 out of 100 due to their low voter turnouts and lack of protection for minority groups. The persecution of Ahmadi community leaders and belief that they are a threat to national security contributes to their civil liberty score of 5/7. Media is under close government regulation at all times and citizens are often subject to media censorship and confiscation of equipment. Algeria also suffers from corruption, little to no persecution on government officials abusing power and lack of multiple political parties, their political rights score is 6/7. BTI rated their status index score 4.98 due to the instability of their democratic institutions and their increasing levels of gender inequality. Their political institutions have been fluctuating in regards to democracy, with an increase on basic administration and decreases in the amount of free and fair elections, Algeria’s political transformation was scored a 4.75 while their economic performance was scored a 5.21. Even though they suffer from wealth inequality, their human development is steadily increasing. Algeria has a lack of market-based competition because of government interference and lack of effort to diversify the economy. Their governance index was scored 4.55 due to several anti-democratic actors.
Canada is one of the world’s countries where citizens enjoy plentiful amounts of freedom. Both BTI and the Freedom House recognize it a free state that exercises liberal democracy, giving it an aggregate score of 99 out of 100. It is working towards a government that is inclusive of all its citizens, meaning the indigenous people as well as immigrants and it’s LGBTQ community. Canada received a political right’s rating of 1/7 which was equivalent to a 40/40. They hold free and fair elections but recently received backlash on how their strict voter identification requirements were discriminating towards Canada’s indigenous population. While they are working on tackling the problems that plague the indigenous community, they’ve passed bills criminalizing discrimination against transgenders. Their civil liberties score was a 1/7 which is equivalent to 59/60. Jails seem to have 1/3 of the indigenous population locked up when they’re only 4% of Canada’s population. Although the government has made increasing efforts to bring equal opportunities for all it’s peoples, the indigenous community has unequal access to education, healthcare and employment. Canada was not given a rating by BTI because they exclude countries “ countries that might be considered long-consolidated democratic systems and in which economic development can be regarded as well-advanced.”. Canada was also a member of the Organization for Economic Co-operation Development before 1989 which BTI considers another factor in having “well advanced” democratic systems.
The Freedom House aggregate score is composed of civil liberties and political rights, their purpose is to measure and rank the countries democracy levels based on developments made during the given year. Freedom House focuses more on free and fair elections, media rights and citizens rights. Freedom House also does not exclude countries based on how advanced their democracies may seem. After they’ve averaged the political rights and civil liberties, a country is then given a status of not free, partly free or free. BTI on the other hands uses an in-depth analysis of the history of a country’s political and economic transformation in comparison to events that have altered or enhanced their democracy. They then calculate a governance index which provides an analysis of the country’s government taking steps towards being a democracy and a market economy by examining past trends in the country and current GDP. BTI further provides a strategic outlook which gives a synopsis on what happened in the country this year and how they can work towards increasing their democracy levels. Both scores of Freedom House and BTI agree on levels of democracy in the countries examined (freedom house is rated out of 100 while BTI is rated out of 10), Freedom house focuses more on the elective processes in the country and how much freedom they can exercise while BTI focuses on how a country has politically and economically transformed themselves.