Democracy quality indicators in European regions in 2016–2020. Towards the erosion of democracy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe?

Abstract

A common feature in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) seems to be a fairly similar level of quality of democracy. The aim of the article is to analyze whether the CEE countries are in the proces of retreat from democracy and whether there are clear differences in the level of development of democracy between the old EU countries and other EU countries. The indicators of the quality of democracy in the groups of CEE, North, South and West countries were assessed. The analysis revealed, similarly to the previous research by Lithuanian political scientist Saulius Spurga, that there is no clear difference between the indicators of the CEE group and the group of Southern European countries (including Spain, Portugal, Greece). On the other hand, in the case of Scandinavian and Southern European countries, there are significant differences in the level of democracy indicators. The data clearly show a higher level of quality of democracy in the Nordic countries. This is confirmed by the results of democracy quality reports from 2006, 2008 and 2010. Based on the analysis performed, it can be concluded that the differences in the quality of democracy in the group of old EU Member States are greater than the differences between the CEE countries and the countries of Southern Europe.