CT Blue

Via the Seminal, we learn that Russia ranks 102nd of 167 countries in the scale of democracy, at least according to the Economist.

I neither endorse nor quarrel with the views of the Seminal writer. My immediate reaction was: Where stands the cradle of democracy, the land of the new birth of freedom, the country in which we ask the question whether any nation can survive which was conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. How is democracy in that storied place?

Well, according to the Economist, we have slipped from Number One (circa 1776) to number 17, just behind Malta and Spain. It might salve a few right wing consciences to know that we are ahead of France, but that has to be more than balanced by the news that the bastion of socialism, Sweden, is number one.

Give the Economist credit, it draws the distinction between “democracy” and “liberal democracy”, recognizing that it is the latter that is the desirable form of government. (Note to Republican readers: do some homework before going ballistic).

If we are in fact as high as 17th on the list, it speaks volumes for the sorry state of democracy worldwide. In this world, at the present time, the extent of media concentration and government control thereof is the most important predictor of democratic health. By that measure, (not to mention our recent history of stolen elections and civil liberties violations) we are slipping rapidly toward the “flawed democracies” category. Can the internet save us? Stay tuned.