Britain is 'one of most undemocratic countries in Europe'
By Allan Hall
2nd February 2011
Britain may have the Mother of Parliaments, but in a new study on democracy in 30 countries it is close to the bottom of the table which is headed by Denmark.
Germany is more democratic than France, Britain and even Switzerland, according to the study by the University of Zurich and the government-funded Social Science Research Centre in Berlin.
Surprisingly Belgium is ranked as the third most democratic country in the group, even though it has now been without a government for more than seven months.
The 'democracy barometer' measures how well 30 established democracies implement freedom and equality.
Denmark, Finland and Belgium have the world's best functioning democracies, while Britain languishes in 26th position and France is one place behind.
The study concludes that despite having the 'Mother of Parliaments', the British system has some 'significant flaws'.
It says: 'The problems lie mainly in three key areas: majority representation in parliament, which creates distortion between votes and actual seats in parliament, a media that is skewed by private-sector interests, and declining trust in the police.'
Project leader Wolfgang Merkel of the German research team told news magazine Der Spiegel: 'It was designed to go deeper than whether a country holds free and fair elections, but not to go deep into individual governmental policies.'
He said the study, which spanned the years 1995 to 2005, looked at the kind of control citizens have over their government. Nine other criteria were examined, including the rule of law, transparency of government and participation in the political process.
Germany came in at 11th place, just behind the U.S., gaining points for its number of female legislators and because of its strict separation of powers between two parliamentary houses.
'The frequent opportunities for veto by the upper house and by the constitutional court restrict governmental power,' said Mr Merkel.
By contrast, women are underrepresented in Switzerland's political system, which ranks at number 16. In addition, Switzerland has a smaller voter turnout among lower-income groups.
'Our democracy barometer highlights the best practice of some of the most successful democracies, but it does not disguise areas in which progress still needs to be made,' added Mr Merkel.
The barometer‘measured nine quality indicators: the protection of personal freedom from infringements by third parties, especially the state; the rule of law; an active citizenship; transparency; participation; representation; political competition; a system of checks and balances; and the ability to implement democratic decisions.
The 11-year study also revealed that the democracies in Poland, South Africa and Costa Rica are the lowest in quality. Switzerland, with its systems of referendums, came a poor 14th.
Project co-leader Marc Buhlmann from Zurich University said Swiss democracy was only average because its 'system of checks and balances, transparency and participation are only very poorly implemented'.
On the other hand, Switzerland is a 'model country when it comes to satisfying the criteria of personal liberties, an active citizenship, competition and governmental capability', he added.
The study also said: 'Positive developments are apparent in younger democracies such as South Africa and Cyprus, which are making up a lot of ground in terms of developing and protecting personal liberties, whilst a decline was evident in George W. Bush's America and Silvio Berlusconi's Italy.'
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