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Civic
Power and Electoral Politics
Adrian
Karatnycky
December, 2005
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=130&year=2005
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Russia entered the ranks
of Not Free countries in 2004 for the first time since the breakup
of the Soviet Union, according to the findings of Freedom in the
World 2005, the survey of global political rights and civil liberties
published annually by Freedom House. This setback for freedom represented
the year's most important political trend.
Russia's steady drift
toward authoritarian rule under President Vladimir Putin saw increased
Kremlin control of national television content and growing influence
over radio and print media; the use and manipulation--bordering
on outright control--of "alternative" political parties
with leaders linked to the country's security services; growing
encroachments against local government; and elections that were
neither free nor fair. The extent of Russia's long-term decline
is suggested by the country's political rights rating of 3 and civil
liberties rating of 4 for the year 1997 (towards the end of the
presidency of Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin), as compared to
its rating of 6 for political rights and 5 for civil liberties today.
Such a precipitous drop during that time frame is relatively rare--in
that same time period, only Haiti has seen comparable declines.
While Russia became increasingly
authoritarian, in neighboring Ukraine, fraudulent elections and
other widespread violations of political rights and civil liberties
led millions of Ukraine's citizens into the streets to defend their
democratic rights. Although Ukraine's presidential election is to
be re-run on December 26th, its non-violent Orange Revolution has
already led to the widespread expansion of media freedoms, with
most newspapers and national television networks now reporting freely.
Ukraine's "people power" has contributed to greater independence
of the legal system, particularly the Supreme Court, which annulled
fraudulent election results and ordered a revote. Furthermore, civic
ferment has helped increase academic freedom. All these developments
have improved the state of the country's civil liberties, according
to the survey findings.
These diametrically opposite
trends were echoed in the growing differentiation between democratizing
and increasingly authoritarian states throughout the former USSR.
While the year saw important progress for freedom in Ukraine and
Georgia, the erosion of freedoms in Russia was matched by ongoing
repression in Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, as well as
authoritarian consolidation in Armenia. All this suggests that the
post-Communist East-West divide (which formerly separated the countries
of Central and Eastern Europe from those of the former Soviet Union)
is gradually migrating eastward, as liberal values make gains in
key post-Soviet states.
As 2004 drew to a close,
89 countries worldwide were judged as Free (possessing a high degree
of political rights and civil liberties in an environment of strong
rule of law), one more than in 2003. The gain was represented by
progress in Antigua and Barbuda, which entered the ranks of Free
countries in the wake of the electoral defeat of corrupt Prime Minister
Lester Bird, whose departure from government created significant
opportunities to promote democratic practices and the rule of law.
Liberia entered the ranks of Partly Free states as a result of greater
political freedom that developed through the establishment of a
broad-based, transitional government. This gain was offset by the
decline in the status of Russia, which moved from Partly Free to
Not Free. (Additionally, the territory of Kosovo declined from Partly
Free to Not Free in the wake of a significant increase in ethnic
violence that led to the non-participation of the Serbian minority
in parliamentary elections.) As a result of these offsetting trends,
the year ended with 54 countries rated as Partly Free, one fewer
than in the previous year. The number of Not Free countries, where
political rights are severely constricted amid widespread civil
liberties problems and a weak rule of law, stood at 49, the same
as in 2003.
In 2004, 44 percent of
the globe's population (2.819 billion) lived in Free countries and
territories, 19 percent (1.189 billion) lived in Partly Free settings,
while 37 percent (2.387 billion) lived in Not Free polities--of
these, 1.3 billion (nearly three-fifths) lived in China. As a result
of shifts in population and changes in freedom status, the number
of people living in Free countries and territories increased by
39 million. The number of those living in Partly Free polities dropped
by 136 million, while the number of those living in Not Free countries
climbed by 177 million, largely due to Russia's entry into this
category.
A deeper analysis of
Freedom House data suggests that Free, Partly Free, and Not Free
societies differ somewhat in comparative performance with regard
to the four broad categories of civil liberties examined by the
survey. An assessment of these differences helps to illuminate some
of the underlying historical trajectories and political trends within
types of countries. These main categories of civil liberties evaluated
in the survey are: Freedom of Expression and Belief, Associational
and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, and Personal Autonomy and
Individual Rights.
Overall, countries in
all three types of societies show their weakest performance in Associational
and Organizational Rights and the Rule of Law, while Freedom of
Expression and Belief rankings are highest. However, Free and Partly
Free societies rank considerably higher than Not Free polities in
their median Associational and Organizational Rights ratings. This
is hardly surprising, as it suggests that authoritarian regimes
place great emphasis on controlling and limiting the ability of
individuals to organize, associate, and engage in collective action,
as this may prove highly threatening to entrenched authority and
power.
In 2004, 119 out of 192
countries (62 percent) qualified as electoral democracies, two more
than in 2003. The designation of electoral democracy is based on
whether a country's last major national elections qualified under
established international standards as "free and fair."
All electoral democracies are not liberal democracies (or Free countries),
as states with democratically elected leaders may still have serious
problems in terms of human rights, the rule of law, and corruption.
Out of 119 electoral democracies 89 (75 percent) are Free, liberal
democracies, while 30 (25 percent) are rated Partly Free. While
Russia exited from the ranks of electoral democracies this year,
new electoral democracies included Antigua and Barbuda, Comoros,
and Georgia.
Regional
Trends
At year's
end, the Middle East and North Africa continued to lag behind other
world regions when overall levels of freedom are measured. In this
region, only 1 country, Israel, is rated as Free, with 5 rated as
Partly Free and 12 rated as Not Free. It is important to note that
according to the survey's longstanding methodology, the rating for
Israel only reflects events that occur within its territorial boundaries.
The state of freedom in the Israeli Occupied Territories (and in
areas formally administered under the Palestinian Authority) are
rated separately, and both are rated Not Free given the significant
human rights abuses and restrictions that are placed on Palestinian
residents.
Comparable year-end figures
for the Americas were 24 Free, 9 Partly Free, and 2 (Cuba and Haiti)
Not Free countries. In Central and Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union, 12 countries were Free, 7 were Partly Free, and 8
were Not Free (all five of the countries of Central Asia are rated
Not Free, with two--Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan--among the most
repressive states in the world.) In the Asia-Pacific region, the
survey found 17 countries are Free, 11 Partly Free, and 11 Not Free.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, there were 11 Free, 21 Partly Free, and 16
Not Free states. And in Western Europe, 24 countries were rated
Free; one country in the region, Turkey, was rated as Partly Free,
although it made measurable strides in civil liberties this year,
improving its score from 4 to 3.
Beyond these broad regional
trends, in addition to the two countries (Antigua and Barbuda and
Liberia) that registered status improvements in 2004, 24 countries
showed numerical gains in freedom, although they were insufficient
to produce a change in the overall freedom designation: Afghanistan,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Central African Republic, Comoros, Costa Rica,
Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau,
Hungary, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Poland, Qatar,
Slovakia, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in
addition to a decline in freedom status in Russia, ten other countries
experienced a decline in their numerical rankings that did not lead
to a status change: Armenia, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire,
Haiti, Lithuania, Malawi, Nepal, Romania, and Zimbabwe.
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