Democracy in Asia

• Democracy in Afghanistan
• Democracy in Bangladesh
• Democracy in Bhutan
• Democracy in China
• Democracy in Hong Kong
• Democracy in India
• Democracy in Iraq
• Democracy in Pakistan

== Measures of democracy ==

The table below shows Asian countries scored on V-Dem Democracy indices for year 2024.{{cite web | title=Democracy Report 2025, 25 Years of Autocratization – Democracy Trumped? | url=https://v-dem.net/documents/54/v-dem_dr_2025_lowres_v1.pdf | access-date=14 March 2025}}{{cite web | date=2025| title=The V-Dem Dataset – V-Dem | website=V-Dem | url=https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/ | access-date=14 March 2025 |publisher=V-Dem Institute}}{{cite book |last1=Coppedge |first1=Michael |title=Varieties of Democracy: Measuring Two Centuries of Political Change |last2=Gerring |first2=John |last3=Glynn |first3=Adam |last4=Knutsen |first4=Carl Henrik |last5=Lindberg |first5=Staffan I. |author-link5=Staffan I. Lindberg |last6=Pemstein |first6=Daniel |last7=Seim |first7=Brigitte |last8=Skaaning |first8=Svend-Erik |last9=Teorell |first9=Jan |date=January 2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781108347860 |doi=10.1017/9781108347860 |display-authors=5 |last10=Altman |first10=David |last11=Bernhard |first11=Michael |last12=Bizzarro |first12=Fernando |last13=Krusell |first13=Joshua |last14=Maguire |first14=Matthew |last15=Marquardt |first15=Kyle |last16=McMann |first16=Kelly |last17=Mechkova |first17=Valeriya |last18=Miri |first18=Farhad |last19=Pernes |first19=Josefine |last20=Staton |first20=Jeffrey |last21=Stepanova |first21=Natalia |last22=Tzelgov |first22=Eitan |last23=Wang |first23=Yi-ting}}

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Background:

Human rights scores provided by the Human Rights Measurement Initiative in the Southeast Asian region are compared to Democracy Index scores provided by V-Dem as the basis for the analysis. In this context, human rights are defined as the ability of a nation to maximize its capacity to provide access to basic social needs for its people.

Use Cases:

It is useful to analyze human rights scores in Southeast Asian democracies. The region is known for having some of the highest levels of human rights violations in the world and for having a variety of autocratic and democratic nations within a small demographic. Spotting trends of high levels of human rights abuse in democratic nations may signal democratic backsliding.

Case Studies:

The following three countries have the highest democracy index scores in Southeast Asia. These scores will be compared to human rights scores based on citizens’ rights to education, work, food, health, and housing. A score below 75% out of 100% is considered very bad, a score between 95% and 100% is considered good.

Timor-Leste (SEA democracy rank- 1):

After Indonesia granted independence to Timor-Leste following two decades of autocratic rule and a reported 100,000 deaths, the nation held its first democratic election on August 30, 2001. The country experienced democratic instability in the preceding years. However, its recent elections, characterized by peaceful transitions of power, have led the nation to achieve some of the highest democracy scores in the region. However, the nation remains economically challenged, and citizens’ access to all five categories of education, work, food, health, and housing all fall in the HRMI’s “very bad” category, with the mean score being 58% out of 100%.

Malaysia (SEA democracy rank- 2):

Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy and the only federal system in the Southeast Asian region. It is ranked second in its respective region for democracy, and despite recent political turmoil, elections are usually followed by peaceful transitions of power. Malaysia has made significant strides to reduce poverty in the country. It received an aggregate score of 78% by the HRMI. While the aggregate ranking falls in the “bad” category, individual scores for work (99%) and housing (90%) fall into the “good” and “fair” categories, respectively.

The Philippines (SEA democracy rank- 3):

The Republic of the Philippines was the first democratic republic in the region after achieving independence from the United States in 1946. The country’s government is modeled after that in the United States, and has achieved peaceful transitions of power up until Ferdinand Marcos’ rule beginning in 1965. The nation has had lasting economic effects from the Marcos era, although power has transitioned fairly peacefully since. In recent years, the Philippines has been cited as experiencing democratic backsliding by some scholars. The nation scores an aggregate 72% from the HRMI, landing it in the “very bad” category. Categories for health (77%), housing (80%), and work (82%) all fall within the “bad” category.

• Democracy in Africa
• Democracy in the Americas
• Democracy in Europe
• Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa
• Democratic backsliding by country – Asia

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Category:Democracy by location

Category:Politics of Asia