Democracy indices are quantitative and comparative assessments of the state of democracy for different countries according to various definitions of democracy.
The democracy indices differ in whether they are categorical, such as classifying countries into democracies, hybrid regimes, and autocracies, or continuous values. The qualitative nature of democracy indices enables data analytical approaches for studying causal mechanisms of regime transformation processes.
A democratic deficit (or democracy deficit) occurs when ostensibly-democratic organizations or institutions (particularly governments) fall short of fulfilling the principles of democracy in their practices or operation. Representative and linked parliamentary integrity have become widely discussed. The qualitative expression of the democratic deficit is the difference between the democracy indices of a country from the highest possible values.
The phrase "democratic deficit" is cited as first being used by the Young European Federalists in their Manifesto in 1977, which was drafted by Richard Corbett.It was also used by David Marquand in 1979, referring to the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union.
The Democracy Index published by the Economist Group is an index measuring the quality of democracy across the world. This quantitative and comparative assessment is centrally concerned with democratic rights and democratic institutions. The methodology for assessing democracy used in this democracy index is according to the Economist Intelligence Unit which is part of the Economist Group, a UK-based private company, which publishes the weekly newspaper The Economist. The index is based on 60 indicators grouped into five categories, measuring pluralism, civil liberties, and political culture. In addition to a numeric score and a ranking, the index categorizes each country into one of four regime types: full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid regimes, and authoritarian regimes. The first Democracy Index report was published in 2006. Reports were published every two years until 2010 and annually thereafter. The index includes 167 countries and territories, of which 165 are sovereign states and 164 are UN member states. Other democracy indices with similar assessments of the state of democracy include V-Dem Democracy indices or Bertelsmann Transformation Index.