Top 10 Most Democratic Asian Countries

Name the countries of Asia that score the highest in terms of democracy by the magazine "The Economist".

According to this Wikipedia page

The right column show their progress and regress from 2019 to 2020

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Last updated: February 7, 2021

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First submitted	July 6, 2019
Times taken	17,658
Average score	60.0%
Rating	4.08

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Score	Country	Growth
8.94	Taiwan	▲ 1.21
8.13	Japan	▲ 0.14
8.01	South Korea	▲ 0.01
7.84	Israel	▼ 0.02
7.56	Cyprus	▼ 0.03

Score	Country	Growth
7.19	Malaysia	▲ 0.03
7.06	East Timor	▼ 0.13
6.61	India	▼ 0.29
6.56	Philippines	▼ 0.08
6.48	Mongolia	▼ 0.02

+22

Level ∞

Jul 9, 2019

Really surprised by Mongolia!

+13

Level 52

Aug 5, 2019

I visited Mongolia when I was backpacking across Asia and remember it being the first time in about 6 months I didn't have to use a VPN to access social media, after the Cambodia/Vietnam/China swathe of censorship.

+29

Level 84

Jul 9, 2019

I think I'd rather live under Singapore's government than under the Philippines'.

+22

Level 83

Jul 10, 2019

Singapore is arguably a much nicer place to live, and you are less likely to get gunned down by a government hit squad on trumped up drug trafficking charges there, but most of the time and in most places you are not going to feel the presence of the Filipino government in the Philippines much at all. The same isn't true for Singapore. So maybe this depends on how you feel about government generally, but if you're implying that the Philippines' government is more oppressive or obtrusive that's odd.

+14

Level 70

Aug 4, 2019

I dunno, throwing drug users out of helicopters seems pretty obtrusive

+12

Level 83

Aug 4, 2019

I've spent about 2 or 3 years in total in the Philippines and never once been thrown out of a helicopter.

Level 51

Sep 3, 2020

Same man, i've been to both and i felt much more free in the philippines than in Singapore.

Might be because i'm french but i hated the feeling of being restricted for anything in Singapore.

Cannot even drink water in the metro ! WTF

Level 65

Aug 15, 2021

in Singapore your ass will split if you bring a piece of gum

Level 35

Aug 4, 2019

I feel like while many countries are corrupt (though perhaps not as badly as the Philippines), Singapore is second to none in terms of taking liberty away from its citizens, one of a few countries I wouldn't live in due to government, as well as China.

Level 59

Sep 13, 2020

I mean I think it's pretty second to at least North Korea, but I see what you mean.

Level 69

Sep 14, 2021

Singapore is rich. The Philippines is poor. Simply having money helps a lot with a lot of things.

Level 64

Jul 9, 2019

Mongolia was my first thought, then Japan, South Korea and RoC.

Level 39

Jul 20, 2021

Yeah same like ur order.

Level 77

Jul 10, 2019

Tried to type China just for fun.hahaha I know it's rated like 3 points

Level 89

Jul 10, 2019

Number 11 is Indonesia and 12 is Singapore. Outside of lack of leniency in sentencing which is the ultimate in democracy and lack of privacy in public areas I know of nothing repressive in Singapore. Especially compared the systematic abuses to various groups that Indonesia has exhibited in the past 30 to 40 years.

Level 66

Aug 4, 2019

It's a one party state protected by gerrymandering, censorship and prosecution of rivals.

Level 66

Apr 26, 2022

The reason It's so high is because of It's high "functioning of government", which is one of the categories that this is measured on.

+31

Level 65

Jul 10, 2019

It's sad when an oppressive regime (Israel) is considered one of the "most democratic" countries.

+33

Level 83

Jul 10, 2019

It's sad when one of the most democratic countries in Asia is considered an "oppressive regime."

+21

Level 77

Jul 10, 2019

You both sounded sad.

Level 66

Aug 4, 2019

Do you think of the other countries in the middle east as having apartheid? Why not? Do you think Arabs in Israel are treated worse than Jews in Iran/Iraq/Egypt/Syria etc.?

Level 64

Aug 4, 2019

Israel has apartheid because it has a class of noncitizens restricted to a tiny, discontinuous territory that lacks the resources to support itself. Apartheid doesn't refer to the treatment as such, but to the legal status of the persecuted group. And in that sense the Palestinian Territories are almost exactly like the bantustans of South Africa.

Level 83

Jul 20, 2020

amm: there is sexual apartheid in Saudi Arabia. Almost all buildings and public areas are strictly segregated by sex and women do not have anything close to the same legal rights as men. Though there have been reforms pushed through recently it's still very unequal.

In Israel, men and women, Jews and Christians and Muslims and atheists all have essentially the same legal rights as any other citizen. Though there are some areas that are prohibited to Jews. And some aspects of civil law such as marriage are different and governed by religious authorities. But generally speaking, there is no apartheid at all between any Israeli citizens. It's ridiculous to assert that there is.

On the other hand if you include non-citizens residing in the West Bank or Gaza as being part of Israel, then, yes, those non-citizens do not have the same rights as Israeli citizens do.

Level 72

Apr 1, 2023

I will concede that I'm not too familiar with the Israel/Palestine conflict in general, but I don't think the awareness of a lack of citizenship changes much. The Arabs in West Bank and Gaza effectively have no citizenship because the Palestinian government is unrecognized and the Israeli government that's partially in control of territories does not grant the residents citizenship.

If 1980s South Africa spontaneously decided that all residents of an overwhelmingly Cape Coloured community were no longer citizens, would you say those residents were no longer living under apartheid? I mean sure it's technically not apartheid by definition, but it would be effectively identical.

To be clear, I'm not arguing that Israel is worse on the equality front than the other Middle Eastern countries. I just don't understand how stateless people who have lived in the territories for generations being barred from citizenship makes it more tolerable.

Feel free to correct whatever I've gotten wrong.

Level 83

Jul 20, 2020

And no, Arab Israelis are not treated worse than Jews in any other Middle Eastern country. Even including non-citizens in the West Bank.

+18

Level 69

Jul 11, 2019

If the majority votes for an oppressive regime and they get an oppressive regime: that is democracy. This quiz does not claim that democratic countries are better in respecting human rights than non-democratic.

+12

Level 66

Aug 4, 2019

It's funny, not sad, when people think that the country in the middle-east with the most respect for the rights of women, gays, and criminal defendants, the country with the greatest rule of law, and the country with the greatest range of civil rights is considered an oppressive regime. Do you judge any of Israel's neighbors--really, any country in a 1500 km radius--by the same standards?

Level 83

Jul 20, 2020

Cyprus is only 228 km from Israel. Though, granted, they don't get anywhere near the same level of scrutiny. But if they did I think they'd fare okay. Even given the contention between the Greek and Turkish factions on the island.

Level 83

Jul 10, 2019

Time limit for once seems to fit the size of the quiz. I couldn't just name every country in Asia. I ended up missing Mongolia and East Timor. Kind of surprised Singapore doesn't make the list. Top 6 are all obvious.

Level 72

Jul 20, 2019

Exactly the same as me.

Level 77

Jul 10, 2019

East Timor is a failed state...

Level 49

Aug 8, 2019

Thanks Australia

Level 64

Dec 12, 2021

East Timor is only hypothesized to be a failed state. The progress they're making discredits this, as East Timor is progressing stability-wise (economic, political, and social).

Level 42

Jul 10, 2019

Good quiz, Aaron. Some "obvious" surprises though.

Level 83

Jul 12, 2019

To the misled or underinformed, I guess all factual information comes as potentially surprising.

Level 70

Jul 11, 2019

these scores are out of how many possible points?

Level 66

Apr 26, 2022

10.

Level 74

Jul 14, 2019

Bit more time I think please

Level 58

Aug 4, 2019

Yay! South Korea has the most democratic government in ASIA!

Level 65

Aug 4, 2019

Most of these countries are so far from democratic, that it shows how undemocratic the rest of Asia is.

Level 64

Dec 12, 2021

um... Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea are all more democratic than the U.S., so are you saying our gerrymandered and rural-biased republic where the candidate with the most votes doesn't always win is undemocratic???

insane.

Level 76

Mar 2, 2022

It shows how ridiculous the standards used here to assess the level of "democracy" are.

Level 67

Jun 5, 2022

Lol what?

Level 76

Aug 4, 2019

For comparison, the US has a 7.96 on this scale, and the UK has an 8.53. The top country is Norway, with 9.87, and the bottom country is, unsurprisingly, North Korea with 1.08.

Level 45

Aug 4, 2019

I imagine the USA loses points for gerrymandering, corruption

Level 68

Aug 4, 2019

When did we start considering Cyprus part of Asia?

Surely, it's in Europe. It was always considered a European country when I was growing up. The Republic of Cyprus has even joined the EU.

What are the arguments for classifying it as an Asian country?

+11

Level 66

Aug 4, 2019

...you must be new around here.

Level 83

Aug 4, 2019

You forgot they were in EuroVision

Level 36

Aug 4, 2019

Cyprus is in Asia (or at least in jetpunk it is)

Level 78

Aug 4, 2019

Got all of them first try. Yay Malaysia (where I come from) is on here! :)

Level 72

Aug 4, 2019

Perhaps a bit surprising considering their recent history (except the last couple of months perhaps). UMNO, anyone?

Level 78

Aug 5, 2019

Malaysia's score on the Democracy Index has considerably improved from 6.54 in 2017 to 6.88 in 2018. The party that had ruled Malaysia since 1957 (independence) was peacefully defeated by a new political party in the 2018 general election. After the election the biggest seizure of goods in Malaysian history occurred in the former Prime Minister's residence and he was arrested.

Level 36

Aug 4, 2019

I am Filipino lol

Level 48

Aug 5, 2019

Cyrus is in Europe

Level 64

Dec 12, 2021

No. Just no. We don't need that discussion right now.

Level 63

Aug 5, 2019

No Muslim Countries, How Surprising!

+12

Level 81

Aug 5, 2019

Malaysia is a Muslim country, both officially and by percentage of population.

Level 83

Aug 5, 2019

^yeah what kitty said. whoops. Also Israel, Cyprus, India and the Philippines have significant Muslim minorities.

Level 64

Dec 12, 2021

I'm pretty sure they meant Arab countries

Level 33

Aug 7, 2019

Why does the source for this quiz include Kazakhstan, the Caucasus, and Turkey as European countries? I am aware of the debate in Turkey, and can understand(slightly) the argument for the Caucasus. Am I missing something in Kazakhstan? I have never even considered it to be in Europe. Is there a new movement going around?

Level 64

Dec 12, 2021

Not really, Kazakhstan is an Asian country geographically, however, because some of its territory is in Europe (anything west of the Ural River), it can therefore be considered to be a European country, because of its cultural closeness to Russia.

Level 59

Aug 23, 2019

The Maldives must be very aggressive.

Level 66

Apr 26, 2022

It wasn't even measured. And yes, they do practice Shariah law so even if it was it probably wouldn't be on here.

Level 76

Jul 20, 2020

Ah yes, the famously objective and non-ideological source "The Economist". XD

Level 81

Jul 28, 2023

This reads like sarcasm, but I don't understand why, since The Economist is widely and accurately considered to be one of least ideologically biased sources available.

Level 78

Feb 3, 2021

There's a new 2020 report out, so this quiz can be updated.

Level 52

Aug 2, 2022

No North Korea???

Level 43

Aug 3, 2022

No way Cyprus belongs to Asia.

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