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Democracy in Europe

{{short description|Overview of democracy in Europe}}

File:V-Dem Electoral Democracy Index 2025 Europe.svg for 2024 in Europe

{{Col-begin}}

{{Col-break}}

{{Legend|#0c3091|0.900–1.000}}

{{legend|#2f5cd5|0.800–0.899}}

{{legend|#6bd2df|0.700–0.799}}

{{legend|#c3eded|0.600–0.699}}

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{{legend|#f9f8bb|0.500–0.599}}

{{legend|#fad45d|0.400–0.499}}

{{legend|#da820f|0.300–0.399}}

{{legend|#a8261f|0.200–0.299}}

{{Col-break}}

{{legend|#66000f|0.100–0.199}}

{{legend|#240011|0.000–0.099}}

{{legend|#c0c0c0|No data}}

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Democracy in Europe can be comparatively assessed{{cite journal | last1=Geissel | first1=Brigitte | last2=Kneuer | first2=Marianne | last3=Lauth | first3=Hans-Joachim | title=Measuring the quality of democracy: Introduction | journal=International Political Science Review | publisher=Sage Publications | volume=37 | issue=5 | year=2016 | issn=0192-5121| jstor=26556872 | pages=571–579 | doi=10.1177/0192512116669141 | s2cid=151808737 | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26556872 | access-date=2023-04-03}} according to various definitions of democracy.{{cite web | last=Greenwood | first=Shannon | title=Appendix A: Classifying democracies | website=Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project | date=2022-12-06 | url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2022/12/06/online-civic-engagement-spring-2022-appendix-a-classifying-democracies/ | access-date=2022-12-27}} According to the V-Dem Democracy Indices, the European countries with the highest democracy scores in 2023 are Denmark, Norway and Sweden, meanwhile the European countries with lowest democracy scores in 2023 are Belarus, Russia and Turkey.[https://www.v-dem.net/documents/29/V-dem_democracyreport2023_lowres.pdf Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023]

Changes in democracy

After the fall of Communism most countries in Central and Eastern Europe either democratized or re-democratized.{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2020-0017 | doi=10.2478/pce-2020-0017 | title=Rethinking the historical trajectory of ECE: From the "original sin" in democratization to redemocratization | date=2020 | last1=Ágh | first1=Attila | journal=Politics in Central Europe | volume=16 | issue=2 | pages=367–398 | doi-access=free }} Some democratic backsliding can be observed in parts of Europe, including Hungary and Poland.{{Cite book| url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1476 | doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.013.1476 | chapter=Democratic Backsliding in the European Union | title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics | date=2019 | last1=Sitter | first1=Nick | last2=Bakke | first2=Elisabeth | isbn=978-0-19-022863-7 }}Cianetti, Licia, James Dawson, and Seán Hanley. "Rethinking “democratic backsliding” in Central and Eastern Europe–looking beyond Hungary and Poland." Rethinking'Democratic Backsliding'in Central and Eastern Europe. Routledge, 2020. 1-14. The V-Dem Democracy Report identified for the year 2023 Montenegro and Kosovo as cases of stand-alone democratization and North Macedonia as a case of U-Turn democratization, while Poland as a small but statistically insignificant uptick in liberal democracy index.[https://v-dem.net/documents/43/v-dem_dr2024_lowres.pdf Democracy Report 2024, Varieties of Democracy] Some view European democracies have become more consensual and less majoritarian over time.[https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/03/future-democracy-europe/4-democratic-institutions-and-processes-europe The Future of Democracy in Europe Technology and the Evolution of Representation, 2020, Chapham House] Increased importance of constitutionalism has been claimed.{{cite journal | url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/eulj.12287 | doi=10.1111/eulj.12287 | title=Beyond the European void? Reflections on Peter Mair's legacy | date=2018 | last1=Bickerton | first1=Christopher | journal=European Law Journal | volume=24 | issue=4–5 | pages=268–280 }}

== Measures of democracy ==

The table below shows European countries scored on 2 high-level V-Dem Democracy indices and 4 mid-level Democracy Component indices evaluating the state of democracy in year 2024 which were published in 2025.{{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 |last=Coppedge |first=Michael |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/9781108347860/type/book |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. |last6=Pemstein |first6=Daniel |last7=Seim |first7=Brigitte |last8=Skaaning |first8=Svend-Erik |last9=Teorell |first9=Jan |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-34786-0 |edition=1 |doi=10.1017/9781108347860}}

{{static row numbers}}

class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible static-row-numbers static-row-header-hash"

|+{{nowrap|V-Dem Democracy Indices (15th edition)}}

!rowspan="2" | Country

!colspan="2" | Democracy Indices

!colspan="4" | Democracy Component Indices

Electoral

!Liberal

!Liberal

!Egalitarian

!Participatory

!Deliberative

{{flaglist| Denmark }}

| 0.916

| 0.883

| 0.976

| 0.97

| 0.713

| 0.965

{{flaglist| Estonia }}

| 0.895

| 0.85

| 0.961

| 0.901

| 0.634

| 0.868

{{flaglist| Ireland }}

| 0.895

| 0.83

| 0.932

| 0.87

| 0.633

| 0.905

{{flaglist| Switzerland }}

| 0.894

| 0.847

| 0.962

| 0.937

| 0.881

| 0.984

{{flaglist| Belgium }}

| 0.886

| 0.805

| 0.908

| 0.93

| 0.643

| 0.887

{{flaglist| Norway }}

| 0.884

| 0.839

| 0.962

| 0.959

| 0.656

| 0.986

{{flaglist| Sweden }}

| 0.881

| 0.845

| 0.978

| 0.907

| 0.653

| 0.908

{{flaglist| Czech Republic }}

| 0.87

| 0.817

| 0.952

| 0.91

| 0.59

| 0.873

{{flaglist| Luxembourg }}

| 0.867

| 0.783

| 0.903

| 0.937

| 0.568

| 0.971

{{flaglist| France }}

| 0.866

| 0.799

| 0.93

| 0.824

| 0.635

| 0.938

{{flaglist| Finland }}

| 0.847

| 0.802

| 0.966

| 0.865

| 0.645

| 0.922

{{flaglist| Iceland }}

| 0.844

| 0.759

| 0.907

| 0.908

| 0.662

| 0.902

{{flaglist| Austria }}

| 0.839

| 0.762

| 0.918

| 0.862

| 0.624

| 0.851

{{flaglist| Germany }}

| 0.839

| 0.792

| 0.963

| 0.931

| 0.653

| 0.98

{{flaglist| Latvia }}

| 0.838

| 0.765

| 0.922

| 0.866

| 0.661

| 0.822

{{flaglist| United Kingdom }}

| 0.833

| 0.752

| 0.91

| 0.784

| 0.637

| 0.867

{{flaglist| Portugal }}

| 0.831

| 0.751

| 0.91

| 0.799

| 0.609

| 0.891

{{flaglist| Spain }}

| 0.829

| 0.745

| 0.906

| 0.839

| 0.635

| 0.841

{{flaglist| Netherlands }}

| 0.822

| 0.761

| 0.944

| 0.893

| 0.62

| 0.893

{{flaglist| Italy }}

| 0.803

| 0.705

| 0.882

| 0.902

| 0.748

| 0.865

{{flaglist| Lithuania }}

| 0.799

| 0.734

| 0.936

| 0.877

| 0.679

| 0.809

{{flaglist| Malta }}

| 0.785

| 0.637

| 0.797

| 0.892

| 0.637

| 0.8

{{flaglist| Cyprus }}

| 0.774

| 0.651

| 0.839

| 0.902

| 0.566

| 0.831

{{flaglist| Slovakia }}

| 0.752

| 0.584

| 0.754

| 0.766

| 0.648

| 0.37

{{flaglist| Greece }}

| 0.75

| 0.576

| 0.741

| 0.875

| 0.638

| 0.83

{{flaglist| Poland }}

| 0.729

| 0.616

| 0.844

| 0.879

| 0.614

| 0.842

{{flaglist| Croatia }}

| 0.723

| 0.619

| 0.862

| 0.779

| 0.624

| 0.681

{{flaglist| Slovenia }}

| 0.716

| 0.619

| 0.869

| 0.886

| 0.746

| 0.861

{{flaglist| Kosovo }}

| 0.651

| 0.473

| 0.692

| 0.675

| 0.468

| 0.55

{{flaglist| Bulgaria }}

| 0.646

| 0.508

| 0.77

| 0.603

| 0.669

| 0.837

{{flaglist| Moldova }}

| 0.632

| 0.518

| 0.807

| 0.784

| 0.666

| 0.798

{{flaglist| Romania }}

| 0.629

| 0.445

| 0.67

| 0.679

| 0.621

| 0.32

{{flaglist| Armenia }}

| 0.623

| 0.414

| 0.61

| 0.802

| 0.411

| 0.688

{{flaglist| Montenegro }}

| 0.615

| 0.478

| 0.755

| 0.76

| 0.581

| 0.724

{{flaglist| North Macedonia }}

| 0.563

| 0.374

| 0.61

| 0.596

| 0.588

| 0.587

{{flaglist| Bosnia and Herzegovina }}

| 0.508

| 0.342

| 0.613

| 0.653

| 0.517

| 0.614

{{flaglist| Albania }}

| 0.507

| 0.396

| 0.742

| 0.673

| 0.537

| 0.418

{{flaglist| Georgia }}

| 0.48

| 0.328

| 0.615

| 0.726

| 0.507

| 0.751

{{flaglist| Hungary }}

| 0.436

| 0.318

| 0.654

| 0.635

| 0.534

| 0.309

{{flaglist| Ukraine }}

| 0.389

| 0.233

| 0.486

| 0.638

| 0.575

| 0.791

{{flaglist| Serbia }}

| 0.315

| 0.22

| 0.544

| 0.736

| 0.552

| 0.494

{{flaglist| Turkey }}

| 0.288

| 0.117

| 0.255

| 0.539

| 0.422

| 0.182

{{flaglist| Azerbaijan }}

| 0.175

| 0.054

| 0.133

| 0.34

| 0.102

| 0.093

{{flaglist| Russia }}

| 0.172

| 0.056

| 0.143

| 0.371

| 0.376

| 0.109

{{flaglist| Belarus }}

| 0.161

| 0.036

| 0.081

| 0.764

| 0.146

| 0.06

By country

{{Further|Democratic backsliding by country – Europe|Democratization#Democratization by country}}

=Azerbaijan=

{{See also|Corruption in Azerbaijan}}

Ahead of the 2024 Azerbaijani presidential election, Amnesty International reported an increased crackdown on the right to freedom of expression, repression of peaceful dissent, a coordinated assault on civil society, and the targeting of critical voices by President Ilham Aliyev.[https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/azerbaijan-repression-escalating-ahead-of-presidential-elections/ Azerbaijan: Repression escalating ahead of presidential elections]

=Belarus=

{{See also|Belarusian opposition}}

Unfair elections were reported in Belarus.{{cite journal | last=Batura | first=Alyena | title=How to Compete in Unfair Elections | journal=Journal of Democracy | volume=33 | issue=4 | date=2022 | issn=1086-3214 | doi=10.1353/jod.2022.0046 | pages=47–61}}

=Georgia=

Electoral fraud was reported at the 2024 Georgian parliamentary election.{{cite web | title=IRI Releases Final Report on Georgia’s Parliamentary Elections | website=International Republican Institute | date=23 December 2024 | url=https://www.iri.org/news/iri-releases-final-report-on-georgias-parliamentary-elections/ | access-date=19 January 2025}}

=Russia=

Unfair elections were reported in Russia due to political repression{{cite web | last=SAUVAGE | first=Grégoire | title=Russia's presidential election: Three Putin challengers but little suspense | website=France 24 | date=15 March 2024 | url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240315-russia-presidential-election-three-candidates-putin-slutsky-kharitonov-davankov-little-suspense | access-date=19 January 2025}} and allegations of electoral fraud. Lack of freedom of the press resulted that most of Russians believe that the elections in Russia are mostly fair.{{cite journal | last=Wilson | first=Kenneth | title=How Russians View Electoral Fairness: A Qualitative Analysis | journal=Europe-Asia Studies | volume=64 | issue=1 | date=2012 | issn=0966-8136 | doi=10.1080/09668136.2012.635485 | pages=145–168}}

=Serbia=

At 2023 Serbian parliamentary election electoral fraud was reported.{{cite web | agency=Associated Press | title=Serbia’s ruling populists claim sweeping victory in election amid vote-rigging accusations | website=the Guardian | date=18 December 2023 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/18/serbia-election-results-populist-party-victory-vote-rigging-accusations | access-date=19 January 2025}}

=Turkey=

Limited political freedom of the press is reported in Turkey.{{cite journal | last=Akser | first=Murat | last2=Baybars | first2=Banu | title=Repressed media and illiberal politics in Turkey: the persistence of fear | journal=Southeast European and Black Sea Studies | volume=23 | issue=1 | date=2 January 2023 | issn=1468-3857 | doi=10.1080/14683857.2022.2088647 | doi-access=free | pages=159–177 | url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14683857.2022.2088647?needAccess=true | access-date=19 January 2025}}

See also

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References

{{Reflist|30em}}

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Category:Democracy by location

Category:Politics of Europe

Category:Democratization