Freedom House: Armenia has semi-consolidated authoritarian regime
05.07.2009 01:14 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Democratic decline in Central Europe and Eurasia was
widespread in 2008, according to the Nations in Transit publication
released by the Washington-based Freedom House. Freedom House
researchers determined that democracy in 18 of 29 countries studied
suffered setbacks, the Armenian reporter reports.
Among the former Soviet states, Georgia and Ukraine were described as
"hybrid regimes" with both democratic and authoritarian tendencies,
and Armenia and Moldova as "semi-consolidated authoritarian regimes."
Kyrgyzstan and Russia joined Belarus, Azerbaijan, and other Central
Asian countries in a group that Freedom House calls "consolidated
authoritarian states." The report singled out "petro-state
Azerbaijan," which "recorded the most significant declines" in terms
of democratic development.
The researchers determined that perceived democratic gains made in
Georgia and Kyrgyzstan following the so-called Rose and Tulip
revolutions in 2003 and 2005 were fully reversed by 2008.
Freedom House also criticized international monitors "that issued
positive statements about elections in 2008 that were clearly flawed,
such as those in Azerbaijan and Armenia."
Another study, released the same day by the Washington-based Brookings
Institution and the World Bank, looked at evolution of democracy,
governance, and corruption in 212 countries and territories between
1998 and 2008.
According to Worldwide Governance Indicators, Armenia has been
backsliding in one of the six categories studied, "voice and
accountability," reflecting problematic handling of elections. Varying
degrees of progress were noted in five other areas studied, including
political stability, government effectiveness, regulatory quality,
rule of law, and control of corruption