Altered maps XI: Towards a New Decade!

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Doesn't Angola have oil? They could probably fit into the "oily mess"

But it's Angola. It's disconnected from the Gulf (of Guinea) states geographically and historically, in more ways than one.

The "oily mess" category is, incidentally, a bit of a mess, in that it's quite a diverse group of countries. Sao Tome doesn't have oil, for a start. Gabon is actually doing alright for itself, by African standards. Cameroon is your typical authoritarian ramshackle state that sort of just trudges along. Equatorial Guinea is a full-blown kleptocracy. Nigeria could probably in go in its own category ("bipolar disorder", perhaps).
 
The United States is a tricky one. There are aspects of their government that are alarmingly repressive, no doubt, but at the same time, the level of political control lent to the populace is almost unmatched in the developed world. The problem they have is the inability of the populace to exercise that control in a meaningful way.

To put it glibly, the American government may commit this-or-that unconscionable act of state repression, but at least you get to (say) vote on local zoning laws, which is more than you can say for a Brit, and that's going to have an influence on how these conclusions are reached.
 
The United States is a tricky one. There are aspects of their government that are alarmingly repressive, no doubt, but at the same time, the level of political control lent to the populace is almost unmatched in the developed world.

Then isn't that by definition a "flawed" democracy? I'm just trying to figure out what the hell that phrase even means...

For example, why did they make France a flawed democracy when Spain and Belgium aren't? I mean, other than the fact that Sarkozy went crazy from time to time.
 
I couldn't really say, I'm just saying that it's necessary to look at the political structure beyond the national level to understand how these conclusions are reached. The government of France, in contrast to the United States, is highly centralised, so it has no regional or local counter-weight to its presidential misadventures.

At any rate, it should be noted that France scores 7.7 and the United States 8.1 [source], so it's really a matter of where the arbitrary line between "full" and "flawed" democracy are drawn, rather than any fundamental difference between the two. (Perhaps that reflects badly on their methodology, but I would tend to think that any attempt to do anything so painfully English as quantifying democracy is bound to run into this sort of obstacle.)
 
I'm struggling to think how the UK can be less democratic than Australia. We lock refugees up indefinitely on the basis of security assessments that even our courts aren't allowed to see. I think that's horrible... and I'm not even against mandatory detention per say. Having said that, I'm sure the UK has similar objectionable policies but that just not all that familiar with them. Which isn't surprising because I don't devote the same amount of time to it as I do to Australian politics.

Also, Malaysia as a flawed democracy? Haha. It hasn't had a genuine democratic election in its entire history.
 
I'm not the one who came up with the term.

Go here instead: Wikipedia link for EIU's Democracy Index

Notice that a vast majority of countries listed in the top (most democratic) category are parliamentary democracies; there are only 4 presidential or semi-presidential republics, 16% of total. In the "flawed democracy" category it's 38% of countries listed and 43% in the "hybrid regimes" category.

Presidential system is obsolete, period.
 
9.09 is very high for a nation that bans minarets.
 
Hmmm. Apparently that is based on the system, not policies...
 
9.09 is very high for a nation that bans minarets.

.., kicks foreign criminals out, just about only likes themselves, but massive language barriers that mess up foreign politics...
I have no idea what happened here.
Speaking of Swiss foreign relation, my interpretation of what People in this canton think of the outside world.
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sad, but probably true.
(might note: SVP is the local populist party)
 
I think those characterizations are accurate and factual. Sadly, I think the Swiss are weird cheese eaters. :(
 
Doesn't Angola have oil? They could probably fit into the "oily mess"

A modest amount which China is pretty much the only player willing to invest in due to the decades long civil war only recently ending. The Chinese are giving boat loads of aid money to Angola though and Chinese construction companies are supposedly doing a heck of a lot of reconstruction work in the capital. The locals complain that the Chinese import Chinese laborers though and as a rule don't hire any locals.
 
Aren't you all confusing human rights violations with democracy here? From a quick look at the methodology, the index seems to be completely okay with questionable decisions as long as they were made in a democratic fashion.
 
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