Mexico is neither a full democracy nor a defective democracy, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), it is a hybrid regime that is above only authoritarian systems.
This is how the EIU classifies our country in its Democracy Index 2021 (ID 2021) released yesterday, February 10.
For the analysis unit of the British magazine The Economist, a hybrid regime is one in which “the elections have substantial irregularities that often prevent them from being both free and fair. Government pressure on opposition parties and candidates can be common. Important weaknesses are more frequent than in flawed democracies: in political culture, functioning of government, and political participation. Corruption tends to be widespread and the rule of law is weak. Civil society is weak. In general, there is harassment and pressure on journalists and the judiciary is not independent”.
The other three systems are defined as follows:
Full democracies: “countries in which not only basic political and civil liberties are respected, but which also tend to be sustained by a political culture that is conducive to the flourishing of democracy. The functioning of the government is satisfactory. The media are independent and diverse. There is an effective system of checks and balances. The judiciary is independent and judicial decisions are carried out”.
Defective democracies: “countries where free and fair elections are also held and, although there are problems (such as violations of press freedom), basic civil liberties are respected. However, there are significant weaknesses in other aspects of democracy, including governance problems, an underdeveloped political culture, and low levels of political participation.
Authoritarian regimes: “countries where political pluralism is absent or very limited. Many countries in this category are outright dictatorships. Some formal institutions of democracy may exist, but they have little substance. Elections, if they occur, are neither free nor fair. Abuses and violations of civil liberties are ignored. The media are often state-owned or controlled by groups linked to the ruling regime. There is repression of criticism of the government and widespread censorship. There is no independent judiciary.”
To classify the 167 countries included in the ID 2021, the EIU analyzes 60 indicators within five categories and places each country within one of the four types of regime according to the points obtained: More than eight points are full democracies , more than six and up to eight are flawed democracies, more than four and up to six are hybrid regimes, and four or fewer are authoritarian regimes.
In ID 2021, Mexico obtained 5.57 points, being in 86th place tied with Ukraine. As far as its five categories are concerned, it obtained: 6.92 in electoral system and pluralism, 5.00 in government functioning, 7.22 in political participation, 3.13 in political culture and 5.59 in civil liberties.
Just over 21 years after the democratic transition began, Mexico still has a long way to go to become a full democracy. The 4T government policies will make it even longer.
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