Infographic:Democracy Index
【明報專訊】The Economist Intelligence Unit issued the latest Democracy Index 2020: In sickness and in health report in February 2021. The average global score in the 2020 Democracy Index(全球民主指數) fell substantially, from 5.44 in 2019 to 5.37 in 2020, which is at an all-time low level since the index was first produced in 2006. Among the 167 regions, Norway ranked first, and North Korea came last.
◆What are the regime types categorized in the report?
How many countries in there?
(See the picture)
◆What is the ranking of Hong Kong?
87th
Hong Kong scored 5.57 on average, which is slightly higher than the world average. Hong Kong lost its status as a ''flawed democracy'' and is now categorized as a ''hybrid regime''.
◆What is the ranking of Hong Kong's geographic counterparts?
Japan ranked 21, Singapore ranked 74 and mainland China ranked 151. The report specifically mentioned that Asia and Australasia is the region with the biggest divergence in scores.
■Think further
Do you think democracy is a value that is worth pursuing?
■Glossary
substantially (adv) 相當地
categorize(v) 將……分類
divergence (n) 差異
pursue(v) 追求
[Smarties' Power English 第305期]