The study, an index which measures the level of democracy worldwide, did, however, take notice of improvements, ranking Kyiv ahead of other post-Soviet states

labeling the country as a “flawed democracy.”

The study, an index which measures the level of democracy worldwide, did, however, take notice of improvements ranking Kyiv ahead of other post-Soviet states.

The Economist Intelligence Unit [EIU], a global research and advisory firm affiliated with the British-based Economist magazine, placed Ukraine 52 out of the 167 governments it rated.

The recently released 11-page report divides the countries into 25 full democracies, 54 flawed democracies, 30 hybrid regimes and 55 authoritarian regimes.

Of CIS countries, only Ukraine and Moldova (62 on the list) were labeled as flawed, while Russia, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan fell into the hybrid category, and the rest are considered authoritarian. Turkmenistan ranked lowest, at number 162.

The rating is based on a 10-point scale, with Ukraine receiving an overall score of 6.94.

Rating categories included a country’s electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of the government, political participation and political culture.

Ukraine got its highest points (9.58) for electoral process and pluralism, coming ahead of “full democracies” such as Canada and Japan; however, Ukraine scored lowest in political participation, where it received a meager 5.56 points.

Ukraine also showed poor marks for functioning of government (5.71) and political culture (5.63).

The EIU said it created the democracy index due to what they perceived as a need for a more inclusive and broader study of political freedoms and civil liberties in democracy measurements.

The index results indicate that flawed democracies are most often found in Eastern Europe and Latin America, while most of the world’s authoritarian countries are concentrated in the Middle East and Africa.

The index also includes a 10-country watch list, highlighting countries likely to drop or rise on the list.

Russia, listed on the watch list as a negative watch, is prone to become more authoritarian. According to EIU’s report, Russia is already known for a steady curtailment of media and civil liberties.

Only Hong Kong is seen by the index as a positive watch, meaning that it is geared to become more democratic.

Although the EIU considers its index more comprehensive, it does not measure levels of economic and social wellbeing. However, EIU report says it sought to provide an index based on a more inclusive range of factors measuring levels of democracy.

The best-known democracy index, produced by the U.S.-based NGO Freedom House, measures 10 political freedom indicators and 15 civil liberties indicators on a 1 to 7 scale. It measures all 193 countries in existence today.

According to Arch Puddington, director of research at Freedom House, “Freedom in the World” is not meant to be a definitive measurement of a government’s democracy, but rather it is meant to measure the state of personal freedoms in a country.”

Ukraine was ranked as free, the most positive category on its measurement scale, in Freedom House’s 2005 annual report, published in December 2005.

Another index, the US government-funded Polity Project, measures equality of governance by studying six factors, with a country’s final score falling between -/+ 10. Ukraine scored an eight in Polity Project’s 2005 report.

According to Dr. Monty Marshall, Director of Research for the Polity Project, his project mainly looks at how the executive, or head of a country’s government is elected. Marshall said that the Polity Project results usually “correlate highly” with those of Freedom House. EIU report argues that both studies rate levels of democracy using “minimalist” criteria.