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.
According to this years ranking of the most unstable democracies in Africa, Chad has the most unstable democracy country in Africa, scoring very low in Electoral process and pluralism, Functioning of government, Political participation, Political culture and Civil
liberties. They are closely followed by central African republic, democratic republic of Congo, Equitorial Guinea and Guinea Bissau.
The African countries on this list are classified as Authoritarian regimes by EIU, and according to the Economic Intelligence Unit, these nations where political pluralism has vanished or is extremely limited are characterised by the following
- These nations are often absolute monarchies or dictatorships.
- They may have some conventional institutions of democracy but with meager significance.
- Infringements and abuses of civil liberties are commonplace.
- Elections (if they take place) are not fair and free.
- The media is often state-owned or controlled by groups associated with the ruling regime.
- The judiciary is not independent.
- presence of omnipresent censorship and suppression of governmental criticism….
The table below shows the Top 20 most Unstable Democracies In Africa, 2018.
Rank | Country | Score
20. Cameroon, (3.61)
19. Algeria, (3.56)
18. Ethiopia, (3.42)
17. Egypt, (3.36)
16. Republic of Congo, (3.25)
15. Rwanda, (3.19)
14. Zimbabwe, (3.16)
13. Guinea, (3.14)
12. Togo, (3.05)
11. Swaziland, (3.03)
10. Djibouti, (2.76)
9. Eritrea, (2.37)
8. Burundi, (2.33)
7. Libya, (2.32)
6. Sudan, (2.15)
5. Guinea Bissau (1.98)
4. Equatorial Guinea (1.81)
3. DR Congo (1.61)
2. Central African Republic (1.52)
1. Chad, (1.50)
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.
Checkout the Top 10 Most Democratic Countries in Africa, 2018.
