By Ifigenia Theodoridou

Cyprus slipped three places in its score for the Democracy Index 2024, ranking 40th out of 167 countries.

The index, developed by Economist Intelligence, listed Cyprus as a flawed democracy, along with countries such as Malta, France, US, Israel and Serbia.

“Representative democracy is not working for large numbers of citizens around the world,” the report said.

The Democracy Index is a “thick” measure of democracy that assesses each country across five categories – electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties.

Cyprus’ highest score was in the electoral process and pluralism category where it obtained 9.17 points. This was followed by civil liberties at 8.82, political culture at 6.88, political participation at 6.67 and functioning of government with a score of 5.36.

“Four years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to a rollback of freedoms around the globe, the 2024 results point to a continuing democratic malaise.”

In 2024, the two categories that registered the biggest declines were functioning of government and electoral process and pluralism, the report said.

“Gridlock, dysfunction, corruption, insufficient transparency and a lack of accountability have undermined public confidence in governments, political parties and politicians. In many countries, powerful interest groups and the wealthy exert significant influence. Governments outsource decision making to non-elected bodies, including central banks and courts.

“Citizens increasingly feel that they do not have control over their governments. As a result, popular trust in democratic institutions has been in decline for many years and has reached the stage where many question whether democracy is able to deliver good results.”

Norway had the highest overall score, staying in top place, consistent with last year’s index findings. It was listed as a ‘full democracy’ along countries such as the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Canada and Australia.

“Despite being the highest-ranking region in the world, and the only region whose average score has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, western Europe is home to large swathes of discontented citizens who are increasingly turning to anti mainstream parties,” the report said.

This was demonstrated in the numerous elections that took place across the continent in 2024, “which were characterised by a backlash against incumbents and rising support for antiestablishment and populist parties (-0.11) and Asia and Australasia (-0.10).”

The report specified it had become clear that having formal democratic institutions was not enough to sustain public support, especially if those institutions have been hollowed out and decision making is outsourced to non-elected bodies.

“Governments and political parties in many democracies have become estranged from citizens and as a consequence are no longer responsive to their concerns. The quality of a democracy can be measured by the degree to which governments consult the public on the important issues of the day. However, in many of the advanced democracies, the established practice has been to exclude the public from having a role in debating these questions.

“Little wonder that large numbers of citizens do not think that democracy, as it is currently organised in many developed democracies, is working for them.”