Democracy in Asia
Democracy in Asia can be comparatively assessed[1] according to various definitions of democracy.[2] According to the V-Dem Democracy indices, the Asian countries with the highest democracy scores in year 2023 were Taiwan, Japan, Cyprus, Israel, and South Korea, meanwhile the Asian countries with lowest democracy scores in 2023 are Saudi Arabia, China and Afghanistan.[3] Democratic backsliding can be observed in parts of Asia.[4] The V-Dem Democracy Report identified for the year 2023 East Timor as a case of stand-alone democratization and Thailand and Maldives as cases of U-Turn democratization.[5] The table below shows Asian countries scored on V-Dem Democracy indices in 2024.
|
0.900–1.000
0.800–0.899
0.700–0.799
|
0.600–0.699
0.500–0.599
0.400–0.499
|
0.300–0.399
0.200–0.299
0.100–0.199
|
0.000–0.099
No data
|
V-Dem Electoral Democracy Indexcomparativelydemocracy scoresTaiwanCyprusIsraelSouth KoreaSaudi ArabiaAfghanistanDemocratic backslidingdemocratizationV-Dem Democracy indicesEast TimorArmeniaGeorgiaMaldivesSri LankaIndonesiaBhutanMongoliaMalaysiaPapua New GuineaPhilippinesSingaporeLebanonKyrgyzstanPakistanKuwaitThailandTurkeyKazakhstanJordanPalestineBangladeshUzbekistanCambodiaRussiaAzerbaijanTajikistanHong KongTurkmenistanVietnamGaza StripBahrainUnited Arab EmiratesNorth KoreaMyanmarDemocracy in EuropeDemocracy in the Middle East and North AfricaInternational Political Science ReviewLindberg, Staffan I.Cambridge University PressSovereign statesStates withlimited recognitionDependenciesBruneiEast Timor (Timor-Leste)AbkhaziaNorthern CyprusSouth OssetiaChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsarticlesHistoryIndian Ocean tradeSilk RoadImperialismDecolonisationCold WarMilitary conflictsGeographyCitiesmetropolitan areastallest buildingsurban agglomerationsCountries and territoriesby populationExtreme pointsIslandsRiversGeopoliticalTranscontinental regionsAsia–PacificCaucasusMediterranean worldMENASAGreater Middle EastMiddle East and North AfricaMiddle EastNear EastIndo-MediterraneanIndo-PacificIndian Ocean worldPacific RimPacific AsiaIntracontinental regionsAnatolia/Asia MinorArabiaSouth ArabiaFar EastGreater ChinaChina properXinjiangIndochinaMalay worldManchuriaNortheast ChinaOuter ManchuriaGreater MongoliaInner MongoliaRussian Far EastInner AsiaGreater Central AsiaGreater IranGreater KhorasanGlobal SoutheastGreater IndiaLevantSouthern LevantMesopotamiaSiberiaSouth CaucasusTurkestanAfghan TurkestanChinese TurkestanRussian Turkestan