The Intelligence Unit (EIU) is a research and analysis division of the British magazine The Economist, which began publishing in 1946. In political terms, its most important ranking is the Democracy Index.
It evaluates 167 countries among the 193 that make up the United Nations, according to five variables: electoral process and pluralism;
functioning of government;
political participation;
political culture and civil liberties.
The first category is that of full democracies.
First place is still held by Norway with 9.81, second by New Zealand and third by Iceland.
Sweden follows in fourth place and then Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Taiwan, the highest-ranked country outside the West.
Then there are Luxembourg (11th), Germany (12th), Canada (13th) and Australia (14th), a position it shares with Uruguay, the first Latin American country for its quality of democracy.
Japan is at 16th and Costa Rica at 17th, being the second Latin American country in the table.
As for imperfect democracies, Chile holds first place with 7.98 and ranks 25th on the global scale.
It is the third country in Latin America for its rating.
The United States is in 29th place.
The most relevant countries in South America are in this ranking, with Brazil in 51st place, Argentina in 54th and Colombia in 55th.
India, ranked 41st, is ranked better than them.
It is the largest democracy in the world by its electorate.
The national election will take place in April and nearly eight hundred million people will vote.
South Africa is ranked 47th.
Indonesia, the third country in the world by electorate, is ranked immediately after Colombia, in 56th place.
Based on the rating that ranges from 4 to 6 points, there are hybrid regimes, which are not considered democratic as such in The Economist's ranking, but not dictatorships either.
The hybrid regimes start with Bangladesh in the first place and end in Mauritania, which is the last.
In this third category there are relevant countries in regional terms, such as Ukraine in 91st place, Turkey in 102nd place and Nigeria - it is the country with the largest population in Africa - which is 104th.
From Latin America there is Mexico (90°).
There are also Peru (77th), Ecuador (85th) and Bolivia (106th).
From Central America there are Honduras (95°), El Salvador (96°) and Guatemala (100°).
In the last category, called authoritarian regimes (which can also be defined as dictatorships), there are 59 countries, more than a third of those that make up the index.
Two global powers are located in this category: Russia (144th) and China (148th).
This group includes the majority of the countries of the Arab world: Algeria, Lebanon, Qatar, among others.
It is a region, in the latter case, shocked by the war in the Gaza Strip.
There are also regional powers such as Pakistan (118th), which has nuclear weapons and is geographically located between India and China, and Vietnam (136th).
At the same time, there are also most of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.
From Latin America there are Haiti (129th), Cuba (136th), Venezuela (142nd) and Nicaragua (143rd).
In the countries directly affected by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, the operation of electoral systems raises various situations.
Israel is an imperfect democracy and ranks 30th for its democratic quality among 167 countries.
Of the five variables analyzed in this index, the best score is obtained precisely in electoral process and pluralism (9.58), and the worst in civil liberties (5.59).
Municipal elections - which had been postponed - have just been held, despite the war.
239 mayors were voted.
The election was on February 27, the vote is voluntary and 49% turned out to vote.
It should be noted that one fifth of the Israeli population is of Arab origin, has the right to vote and does so in a high percentage.
Ukraine is classified as a hybrid regime and ranks 91st for its democratic quality.
The election was suspended because the constitution establishes that it cannot be held while martial law is in force, which is happening now due to the war.
The highest score is in political participation (7.22) and the lowest in government functioning (3.07).
Palestine is classified as an authoritarian regime.
He occupies the 115th position in the ranking, but his last election was made almost two decades ago, in 2006, which questions the representativeness of the current authorities.
Of the five variables analyzed in this study, its best score was obtained in political participation (8.33) and the lowest in government functioning (0.14).
As for Russia, it is classified as authoritarianism - the lowest level - and occupies the 144th position.
It holds its presidential election between March 15 and 17.
Despite the fact that several opposition candidates are running, a landslide victory is expected for Vladimir Putin, who plans a new government until 2030. The best rating of the Russian democratic system was obtained in political culture (3.75) and the worst in electoral process and pluralism ( 0.92).
In short, although the democratic quality is under discussion, this political system, in one form or another, is present even in countries at war.
Rosendo Fraga is Director of the Union Studies Center for the New Majority.