Measuring democracy is a highly complex task and there is no universal metric for it. As in everything politics, any measure in this regard is going to be subject to debate and interpretation. Nevertheless, here is one metric, the Democracy Index, that has been quoted in many circles around the world in recent years..
The Democracy Index is an index compiled by the UK based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, of which 166 are sovereign states and 165 are UN member states.
The index is based on 60 indicators grouped in five different categories measuring pluralism, civil liberties, and political culture. In addition to a numeric score and a ranking, the index categorizes countries as one of four regime types full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes and authoritarian regimes.
The table below shows the Democracy Index of the top 10 most democratic countries in Africa, according to EIU.
| Country | Rank | Overall Score |
|---|---|---|
| Mauritius | 1 | 8.22 |
| Cape verde | 2 | 7.88 |
| Botswana | 3 | 7.81 |
| South Africa | 4 | 7.24 |
| Ghana | 5 | 6.69 |
| Lesotho | 6 | 6.64 |
| Tunisia | 7 | 6.62 |
| Namibia | 8 | 6.31 |
| Senegal | 9 | 6.15 |
| Zambia | 10 | 5.68 |
Methodology
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s index of democracy, on a 0 to 10 scale, is based on the ratings for 60 indicators, grouped into five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Each category has a rating on a 0 to 10 scale, and the overall Index is the simple average of the five category indexes. The category indexes are based on the sum of the indicator scores in the category, converted to a 0 to 10 scale.
So that ends our list of Top 10 Most Democratic Countries in Africa, 2018…
