Democracy Index

The Democracy Index is intended to provide a mechanism by which South Africans can evaluate how democratic their country is. Five areas have been identified and a set of questions posed for each area. The five areas are listed below:

 

The answers to these questions indicate whether democracy is faring better or worse in each area, what reforms may be necessary and emerging threats to the democratic order. This assessment should not be viewed as a static statement but rather as a tool in the development process.

Paul Graham & Alice Coetzee (Eds) (2002) In the Balance: Debating the State of Democracy in South Africa. Cape Town: Idasa. Richard Calland, Genesis & Evolution of Idasa's Democracy Index. The People Shall Govern! Democracy Index 2004.

In the 2002 Index, published as "In the Balance? Debating the State of Democracy in South Africa", IDASA employed a careful methodology for answering the Index.

 

Five analysts wrote chapters under each of the main headings, and 'scored' their answers for each indicator. For the 2004 Index, IDASA has retained the system of five analysts (albeit five different ones), but it has unburdened them the responsibility of 'scoring' their responses to the Index. Instead, Idasa will offer a scorecard based on their analysis and its own response to it.

Idasa drew on a growing experience around the world in attempting to measure democracy. One of the best models, subsequently adapted by International IDEA as it sought to 'universalize' a democratic yardstick, was the UK democratic audit. The UK audit rotated around two key principles, that adapted by us are: