WEB WATCH

This is a new feature I wanted to try out. Basically, shining a spotlight on whatever I think might  somehow relate to this blog, or to my campaign to promote digital democracy.

So, yeah, that’s the deal. This time around, I want to shine a spotlight on the Democracy Index.

https://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=DemocracyIndex2011

It’s similar to my Democracy-Volume chart, except theirs is more scientific and widely recognized. Although my chart takes into account the direction democracy is going ( At least that’s what I like to think …^_^ ) .

You’ll have to create an account to download their latest report ( 2011 ) , but it’s kinda cool, there’s some fun nuggets of information in there. For example: “The US and the UK remain at the bottom end of the full democracy category.” Ouch! And in this case it’s not some flaky journalist expressing their view, the report is by the top authority on the subject. I mean, their angle is that they’re evaluating democracy around the world so they can better advise their clients on  the safety of investing in different places around the world.

The top 20 most democratic countries are: #1 Norway, #2 Iceland, #3 Denmark, #4 Sweden, #5 New Zealand, #6 Australia, #7 Switzerland, #8 Canada, #9 Finland, #10  Netherlands, #11 Luxembourg, #12 Ireland, #13 Austria, #14 Germany, #15 Malta, #16 Czech Republic, #17 Uruguay, #18 United Kingdom, #19 United States, #20 Costa Rica.

So, it turns out I’m not the only fool that’s into this kind of  stuff. And, yes,  there’s no pressure on your part to go and download that report, I just wanted to let you know that it’s out there, and it’s available…

[n]