The voices of citizens are supposed to be heard, but in most countries democracy is a problem. The two websites used for this assignment to rate the level of democracy in every country was Freedom House and Bertelsmann’s Political Transformation. Freedom House rates on the Electoral process,political participation,functioning of government,civil liberties,associational and organizational rights and also rule of law.Bertelsmann’s political transformation also rates on Political and social integration,stability of democracy institutions,rule of law,political participation and stateness. Freedom house also ranks on how the countries protect their citizens political right and civil liberties out of seven with one being the most free and seven being the least free.
The country I will begin with is Ghana. Freedom House graded Ghana 83/100 and BTI also graded Ghana 7.9/10. That means Ghana is a very free country. Ghana also protect the political rights of its citizens as it was ranked 1/7 and also was ranked 2/7 on civil liberties. Ghana has a GDP OF $1,361. According to freedom house the president of Ghana was elected through a free and fair elections as well as their legislative representatives. BTI also ranked ghana as a free country and also gave it a 7.9/10. Ghana has free and fair elections and the right to campaign. Even though Ghana is a country that has free democracy it is also peaceful. Both websites graded almost on the same thing ,for example freedom talks about how Ghana has a free education, freedom of assembly,that is associations do not need permits before they can meet, but BTI project does not. According to BTI project does not. According to BTI Ghana has a freedom of association and assembly. Citizen can create their own organizations and also campaign.
According to freedom house China does not have any democracy. Their president is elected by National People’s Congress that is china’s highest state body and not the citizens. Their legislative representatives are also elected by the National People’s Congress.It was rated a 7/7 on its political rights because it does not protect the political rights of it citizens, and also does not protect the civil liberties because it was rated 6/7. China has a GDP of $8,069.China is graded 14/100 on freedom house and 3.3/10 on BTI. In China citizens can’t organize their own political party. China does not have any freedom of expressions and beliefs according to freedom house. They check news reporting on websites, newspapers, social media etc. Bti rated on China’s elections,assembly rights, freedom of expression and power to govern. A president in China is not elected by free election but by China’s organization department. Citizens of China have freedom association and assembly but they are not allowed to work on their own they need to obtain registration with the ministry of civil affairs.
They have freedom of religious belief, freedom of speech but these rights are interfered by CCP to ensure that there are no underground protestant services. These two websites discuss the same same things.
Somalia is a country located on the horn of Africa. According to the two websites Somalia does not have a free election. Somalia was ranked 7/7 on political rights that it means it doesn’t do well in protecting its citizens right. It also does not protect its citizens civil liberties as it was ranked 7/7. Somalia has a GDP OF $426. Their president is elected by the federal parliament. Freedom of expression exist in Somalia, but however it is restricted on publicorder, speaking against islam, and public safety. Freedom House stresses more on how the Government functions. Citizens do not have the right to know what goes on in the government.
Libya is ranked 7/7 on political rights and 6/7 on civil liberties. Libya has a GDP of $8,700.That means it does not protect the political rights and civil liberties of its citizens. According to the two websites Libya’s freedom status is not free. They both ranked on similar and also agree on the same stuffs such as electoral process, political participation, function of the government, civil liberties and individual rights. Libya does not elect their president through a fair election. They do not have political parties candidates run as independent and selected by the High National Election Commission.
There is nothing like freedom of association in Libya. Also, both websites agree that there is no freedom of expression. The number of court sentences and violence have made people scared to speak their mind.
Congo is a country located in Africa. It is a country with no democracy. It was ranked 17/100 by Freedom House and also ranked 3.1/10 by BTI. Congo has a GDP OF $475. Congo was ranked 7/7 on their political rights and 6/7 on their civil liberties of its citizens. There is no freely elected government in Congo. Journalists get attack, arrested or get punished if they say anything against the government. There is freedom of association and assembly but there are limits to it. Freedom of movements is restricted but there is right to own property and business.
Turkey is a country with no democracy. It was ranked 32/100 by Freedom House and 5.6/10 by BTI. Turkey has a GDP of $10,985. Ranked 5/7 on its political rights and 6/7 on civil liberties that means it does not protect the political rights and civil liberties. Turkey has a free and fair elections.Turkey does not have freedom of expression. Journalist gets arrested if they say something against the government. Freedom of assembly became restricted after the coup d’etat.
Egypt has no democracy in the country. It is ranked 26/100 by Freedom House and 3.7 by BTI. Egypt has a GDP of $3,548.It is ranked 6/7 on its political rights, and also 6/7 on its civil liberties because it doesn’t protect the political rights and civil liberties of its citizens. Egypt has a free and fair elections. Egypts have freedom of belief, expression but there are limits. There is freedom of assembly and association but permission is needed.
Nigeria is a country in Africa. It’s rated a 50/100 on freedom house and also rated a 4.6/19 on BTI which means it is a partly free state. Nigeria has a GDP of $363. It was rated a 3/7 on it political right and 5/7 on its civil liberties which means it does a moderate job at protecting its political rights and civil liberties. Their president is elected through a free and fair elections by its citizens. Nigerian citizens have the right to organize their own political party. Nigerians have freedom of speech and expression but are limited on false news and news that is against the government. They also have religious freedom. Their constitution grants them freedom of association and assembly and they do not need permission.
Cameroon is a country with no democracy. It is rated 22/100 by Freedom House and was also rated a 4.23/20 by BTI. It does not consider protecting the political rights and civil liberties as they were ranked 6/7 and 6/7 which is low.Cameroon has a GDP of $1,354. The president is elected through single voting. Citizens do not have the right to organize political groups. Cameroon does not grant freedom of expression and belief. Journalist gets arrested or punished if they give fake news or false news about the government. They are also not granted freedom of association and organizational rights. There are no independent judiciary. Judges are chosen by the president. Bokom Haram has made freedom of movement tough.
Zimbabwe is a country with no democracy. It is ranked a punished or arrested if they give false news or say anything against the government. They are also granted freedom of assembly.