Top 20 Worst Democratic Countries in Africa – Democracy Index (2018)

A new Democracy Index published by the Economist, has named Democratic Republic of Congo the least democratic country in Africa and the world in general.

The EIU Democracy Index for 2018 measures the state of democracy in 165 independent countries worldwide using five parameters: process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture.

Based on the performance of the countries in the five categories they are then classified into four regimes namely: full democracy”, “flawed democracy”, “hybrid regime” and “authoritarian regime”.

A full democracy is the best rating while authoritarian regime is rated the worst.

DR Congo was ranked the least democratic country in Africa, and in the world in general. They are closely followed by Central Africa Rep (2nd), Chad (3rd), Equatorial Guinea (4th), Guinea Bissau (5th).

According to the report, All the African countries listed below performed poorly in all four categories measured. The countries also have the worst functioning government in the region.

The African countries below are also among the world’s highly ranked most authoritarian states.. In these African countries, political pluralism is extremely limited.., 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, and they are characterised by the presence of omnipresent censorship and suppression of governmental criticism.

See The Top 20 Most Democratic Countries in Africa Below

Top 20 Most Democratic Countries in Africa – EIU Democracy Index Report

Top 20 Least Democratic Countries in Africa, EIU Democracy Index – 2018

20. Algeria

Score – 3.50
World Rank – 126
Regime Type – Authoritarian

19. Egypt

Score – 3.36
World Rank – 127
Regime Type – Authoritarian

18. Ethiopia

Score – 3.25
World Rank – 128=
Regime Type – Authoritarian

17. Rwanda

Score – 3.35
World Rank – 128=
Regime Type – Authoritarian

16. Congo (Brazzaville)

Score – 3.31
World Rank – 131
Regime Type – Authoritarian

15. Cameroon

Score – 3.28
World Rank – 132
Regime Type – Authoritarian

14. Zimbabwe

Score – 3.16
World Rank – 134=
Regime Type – Authoritarian

13. Guinea

Score – 3.14
World Rank – 136
Regime Type – Authoritarian

12. Togo

Score – 3.10
World Rank – 138
Regime Type – Authoritarian

11. Swaziland

Score – 3.03
World Rank – 141
Regime Type – Authoritarian

10. Djibouti

Score – 2.87
World Rank – 146
Regime Type – Authoritarian

9. Eritrea

Score – 2.37
World Rank – 151
Regime Type – Authoritarian

8. Burundi

Score – 2.33
World Rank – 153
Regime Type – Authoritarian

7. Libya

Score – 2.19
World Rank – 154
Regime Type – Authoritarian

6. Sudan

Score – 2.15
World Rank – 155
Regime Type – Authoritarian

5. Guinea-Bissau

Score – 1.98
World Rank – 157
Regime Type – Authoritarian

4. Equatorial Guinea

Score – 1.92
World Rank – 161
Regime Type – Authoritarian

3. Chad

Score – 1.61
World Rank – 163
Regime Type – Authoritarian

2. Central African Republic

Score – 1.52
World Rank – 164
Regime Type – Authoritarian

1. Democratic Republic of Congo

Score – 1.49
World Rank – 165
Regime Type – Authoritarian

Methodology

The EIU Democracy Index provides a snapshot of the state of world democracy for 165 independent states and two territories. The Democracy Index is based on five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. Based on their scores on 60 indicators within these categories, each country is then itself classified as one of four types of regime: full democracy; flawed democracy; hybrid regime; and authoritarian regime.