Table: 120 Democracies

freedomhouse.org ^ | Tuesday, July 23, 2002 5:29:12 PM | Freedom House

[risk]

Num.	Country	Government
1.	Albania	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
2.	Andorra	Parliamentary democracy
3.	Argentina	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (federal)
4.	Armenia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
5.	Australia	Parliamentary democracy (federal)
6.	Austria	Parliamentary democracy (federal)
7.	Bahamas	Parliamentary democracy
8.	Bangladesh	Parliamentary democracy
9.	Barbados	Parliamentary democracy
10.	Belgium	Parliamentary democracy (federal)
11.	Belize	Parliamentary democracy
12.	Benin	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
13.	Bolivia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
14.	Botswana	Parliamentary democracy and traditional chiefs
15.	Brazil	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (federal)
16.	Bulgaria	Parliamentary democracy
17.	Canada	Parliamentary democracy (federal)
18.	Cape Verde	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
19.	Central African Republic	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
20.	Chile	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
21.	Colombia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (insurgencies)
22.	Costa Rica	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
23.	Croatia	Parliamentary democracy
24.	Cyprus	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
25.	Czech Republic	Parliamentary democracy
26.	Denmark	Parliamentary democracy
27.	Djibouti	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (dominant party)
28.	Dominica	Parliamentary democracy
29.	Dominican Republic	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
30.	Ecuador	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
31.	El Salvador	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
32.	Estonia	Parliamentary democracy
33.	Finland	Parliamentary democracy
34.	France	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
35.	Georgia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
36.	Germany	Parliamentary democracy (federal)
37.	Ghana	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
38.	Greece	Parliamentary democracy
39.	Grenada	Parliamentary democracy
40.	Guatemala	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
41.	Guinea-Bissau	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
42.	Guyana	Parliamentary democracy
43.	Honduras	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
44.	Hungary	Parliamentary democracy
45.	Iceland	Parliamentary democracy
46.	India	Parliamentary democracy
47.	Indonesia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (military-influenced)
48.	Ireland	Parliamentary democracy
49.	Israel	Parliamentary democracy
50.	Italy	Parliamentary democracy
51.	Jamaica	Parliamentary democracy
52.	Japan	Parliamentary democracy
53.	Kiribati	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
54.	Korea, South	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
55.	Latvia	Parliamentary democracy
56.	Liberia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
57.	Liechtenstein	Principality and parliamentary democracy
58.	Lithuania	Parliamentary democracy
59.	Luxembourg	Parliamentary democracy
60.	Macedonia	Parliamentary democracy
61.	Madagascar	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
62.	Malawi	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
63.	Mali	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
64.	Malta	Parliamentary democracy
65.	Marshall Islands	Parliamentary democracy and traditional chiefs
66.	Mauritius	Parliamentary democracy
67.	Mexico	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
68.	Micronesia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (federal)
69.	Moldova	Parliamentary democracy
70.	Monaco	Principality and parliamentary democracy
71.	Mongolia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
72.	Mozambique	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
73.	Namibia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
74.	Nauru	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
75.	Nepal	Parliamentary democracy (insurgency)
76.	Netherlands	Parliamentary democracy
77.	New Zealand	Parliamentary democracy
78.	Nicaragua	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
79.	Niger	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
80.	Nigeria	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
81.	Norway	Parliamentary democracy
82.	Palau	Presidential democracy and traditional chiefs
83.	Panama	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
84.	Papua New Guinea	Parliamentary democracy
85.	Paraguay	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
86.	Philippines	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (insurgencies)
87.	Poland	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
88.	Portugal	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
89.	Romania	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
90.	Russia	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
91.	St. Kitts and Nevis	Parliamentary democracy
92.	St. Lucia	Parliamentary democracy
93.	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	Parliamentary democracy
94.	Samoa	Parliamentary democracy and traditional chiefs
95.	San Marino	Parliamentary democracy
96.	Sao Tome and Principe	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
97.	Senegal	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
98.	Seychelles	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
99.	Sierra Leone	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (insurgencies)
100.	Slovakia	Parliamentary democracy
101.	Slovenia	Parliamentary democracy
102.	Solomon Islands	Parliamentary democracy
103.	South Africa	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
104.	Spain	Parliamentary democracy
105.	Sri Lanka	Presidential democracy
106.	Suriname	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
107.	Sweden	Parliamentary democracy
108.	Switzerland	Parliamentary democracy (federal)
109.	Taiwan	Presidential democracy
110.	Thailand	Parliamentary democracy
111.	Trinidad and Tobago	Parliamentary democracy
112.	Turkey	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (militaryinfluenced insurgency)
113.	Tuvalu	Parliamentary democracy
114.	Ukraine	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
115.	United Kingdom	Parliamentary democracy
116.	United States of America	Presidential-parliamentary democracy (federal)
117.	Uruguay	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
118.	Vanuatu	Parliamentary democracy
119.	Venezuela	Presidential-parliamentary democracy
120.	Yugoslavia	Parliamentary democracy

[risk]

This is the legacy of American democracy: 120 countries in the world where freedom has a chance. We ended imperialism, destroyed the first axis, and unravelled communism's grip on the soviet bloc.

Keep America free, and the world will be free. Elect a president who agrees!

[risk]

ping: here's the table of 120 "free" countries from http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2001/tables.htm as mentioned in John Huang2's posting about GW's advertisement in http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1200704/posts

[JohnHuang2]

Bump!

[risk]

I understand we have 30 of these countries in the coalition in Afghanistan and about 20 in Iraq. Those are pretty good numbers considering that not every country has the resources to join a global war.

"Going it alone" is a lie, a damned lie.

[JohnHuang2]

Amen.

[risk]

Iraq and Afghanistan are both nearly qualified to join this list. Is the Sudan, Iran, or Cuba next? China is missing! What is the problem? It tells us that "planned capitalism" is the future, and that other countries around it must be absorbed.

Today I call for one China: A FREE CHINA!

[knarf]

What a fascinating list. But it begs the question, what is a parliamentary democracy?

[yoswif]

Democracy is meaningless unless individual human beings own the fruits of their hard work, good decisions, and responsible acts. Without this fundamental human right, the mob can take whatever it wants from those in society who work hard, prepare themselves to make good decisions, and show the self-discipline to act responsibly. When the mob robs society of these positive human contributions to society, all of society suffers.

[risk]

That reminds me: useful idiot Bill Maher invited a former Canadian prime minister to his show to attack President Bush and she claimed that our Republic is "primitive" and "backward" because we don't have runoff elections or offer legislative seats or cabinet offices to runners up in our presidential campaigns.

Canada would be a French, Russian, Japanese, or German colony today if it weren't for us, and she has the nerve...

[gunnedah]

Democrats live on lies and succeed because they keep most Americans uneducated and unable to think for themselves. Their followers are like sheep and have to march in lock step to be accepted.
The Democrat Party of today is nothing short of a Gestapo and the are slowly but surely legislating from the bench and taking America toward a dictatorship. This upcoming election is strictly about the US Supreme Court and the overthrowing of our Constitution!

[risk]

Nothing is perfect, not even our country. There is no utopia on this earth. Freedom and property rights are never "ideal." We must fight and scrap to keep what we have, and help others to do the same.

Moreover, as pseudo-democracies expand, and as life gets relatively easier, our own people will come to take for granted what has been earned by our forebears.

The fight for freedom never ends.

[dufekin]

A "parliamentary democracy" is one with an ostensibly elected legislature, which absent a "presidential-" chooses a prime minister.

The countries listed, while ostensibly electorally democracies (republics with semi-competitive elections), are not all free countries. For example, the Central African Republic, although listed as a "presidential-parliamentary democracy" is really a high-crime socialist state with limited freedom and a general disease-ridden human cesspool.

[knarf]

"For example, the Central African Republic, although listed as a "presidential-parliamentary democracy" is really a high-crime socialist state with limited freedom and a general disease-ridden human cesspool."

Thank you. It was just that, which had caught my eye as I went quickly down the list.

Still, an informative compiliation.

[risk]

I'm not at all comfortable with the term "parlimentary" being associated with our government, come to think of it.

[varon]

What political sin has England committed to be excluded from this list?

[dufekin]

England in 1707 joined Scotland by Act of Union of 1707 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain, later expanded to include Ireland, and now the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Look under that name; England is but a part of that country.

[bobjam]

A parliamentary democracy is a government like Canada and Israel. A federal republic is a government like the United States and Russia.

Typical features of parliamentarian governments include non standard election cycles, weak or non-existant chief executive, party control of seats, and multiple major parties. The party or coalition of parties that controls the parliament picks the cabinet ministers. Thus one party or coalition always controls the entire government and the opposition party or parties (such as the Conservatives in Canada) are completely powerless.

In the USA, the terms of the President and Congress are fixed, and it is common for one party to control Congress and another to occupy the White House. In nations such as Canada, there is no separate election for the Prime Minister or other executive. The only election is a local election for a party representative to parliament. That said, there is no way to "split a ticket".

The best way to describe it is that in parliamentary democracy, the parties created the system. In a constitutional republic, the system created the parties.

[bobjam]

England is listed as "United Kingdom".

[tallhappy]

Thanks risk. I appreciate your posts and pings.

Now, why is one of these nations on the list not considered a nation where we refuse to let their elected president meet with our president or any official, we will not establish an embassy in that nation nor allow them to have an embassy here?

[tallhappy]

Today I call for one China: A FREE CHINA!

Yes and one Taiwan.

Taiwan is not part of China and we shouldn't saddle them to that mess.