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April 7, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Poland hits new low in “Nations in Transit” survey of democracy
bne IntelliNews
The condition of Polish democracy has descended to its lowest ever point in the “Nations in Transit” survey of democratic progress in former communist countries, published by Freedom House on April 4.
In Poland – as well as in Hungary – “populist leaders have attacked constitutional courts, undermined checks and balances, and have turned public media into propaganda arms,” Freedom House charged. The survey results reflect Poland’s slide from the poster child of democratic changes in Central and Eastern Europe to Europe’s enfant terrible, following the takeover of power by the populist Law and Justice party (PiS).
On a scale of 1-7, where 7 means the least
democratic, Poland’s score fell 0.25 points to 2.57.
On the new EU member states list Poland now sits below the Baltic states in the survey and just above Slovakia. Hungary is anchored at the bottom of the list for the authorities’ lack of respect for democracy. The most democratic countries among the new members states are Estonia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.
By the standards of the post-communist world, however, Poland’s score remains relatively good, and puts the country in 6th place out of a total of 29 countries. The assessments of Russia and a number of former Soviet republics sit well above 6 on the scale’s survey.
Nations in Transit 2017: The False Promise of Populism
NATIONS IN TRANSIT 2017: DEMOCRACY SCORE HISTORY BY REGION
Central Europe
Country
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Bulgaria
2.86
3.04
3.04
3.07
Czech Republic
Hungary 3.54 Lithuania 2.32 Romania 3.39 Slovenia 2.04
3.14
3.18
3.25
3.29
3.25
3.36
2.14
2.18
2.21
2.18
2.18
2.14
2.25
2.21
2.21
2.25
1.93
Estonia
1.93
1.93
1.96
1.93
1.93
1.96
1.96
1.96
1.93
2.14
2.29
2.39
2.61
2.86
2.89
2.96
3.18
3.29
2.04
Latvia
2.07
2.18
2.18
2.14
2.11
2.07
2.07
2.07
2.07
2.25
2.29
2.25
2.25
2.29
2.32
2.36
2.36
2.32
2.57
Poland
2.39
2.25
2.32
2.21
2.14
2.18
2.18
2.21
2.32
3.36
3.36
3.46
3.43
3.43
3.50
3.46
3.46
3.46
2.61
Slovakia
2.29
2.46
2.68
2.54
2.50
2.57
2.61
2.64
2.61
1.86
1.93
1.93
1.93
1.89
1.89
1.93
1.93
2.00
Average
2.33
2.39
2.44
2.43
2.45
2.47
2.50
2.53
2.55
2.61
Median
2.20
2.27
2.29
2.23
2.24
2.25
2.31
2.29
2.32
2.45
Balkans
Albania Bosnia-Herzegovina Croatia
3.82 4.11 3.64
3.82 4.18 3.71
3.93 4.25 3.71
4.04 4.32 3.64
4.14 4.36 3.61
4.25 4.39 3.61
4.18 4.43 3.68
4.14 4.46 3.68
4.14 4.14 4.5 4.54 3.68 3.71