Freedom House survey shows growing democracy worldwide

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WASHINGTON -- President-elect George W. Bush has a great opportunity to encourage further expansion of democracy worldwide, Freedom House said Wednesday.

The New York-based democracy research and advocacy group issued its 25th annual report showing there are more democracies in the world now than at any time in history.

"The new, incoming president has an opportunity to shape U.S. foreign policy," said Freedom House President Adrian Karatnycky, "In an environment where there is an increasing number of democratic states that share America's commitment to open political processes, the rule of law and economic freedom rooted in property rights."

The Freedom House report said the promotion of democratic values, which it says began in the Reagan Administration, has borne fruit under succeeding U.S. administrations.

FULL TEXT Freedom in the World Report: 2000-2001, from Freedom House     IN-DEPTH Defining Global Justice     MESSAGE BOARD Presidential transition

There are 86 countries which the report classifies as "free", comprising 2,465 billion people and some 41 percent of the world's population. The group designates free countries as those that respect a broad range of political rights. Mexico, Croatia, Ghana and Suriname have joined the family of "free" countries over the past year.

There are 59 countries with some 24 percent of the world's population that it sees as "partly free" and have a mixed record of mixed record of political rights often accompanied by corruption and weak rule of law.

China, Russia, Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone and Turkey are among the countries listed as "partly free."

Freedom House said 47 countries containing 2.2 billion people rate as "not free." This 35 percent of the world's population is denied basic political rights and civil liberties. Somalia, Vietnam, North Korea, and Afghanistan are among those countries designated as not free, although it said Vietnam and Yugoslavia are making significant progress in democratic reforms.

"The advance of fundamental freedoms around the world creates new opportunities for international cooperation on behalf of security, freedom and economic growth," the report says.

Karatnycky said Bush seems to recognize the growing trend of worldwide democratic advancement.

"In the initial comments of the president-elect, in introducing the new foreign policy team and in the comments of these new shapers of American foreign policy, there is the recognition of this broader trend towards democratization and towards markets, towards more countries adopting values that they would share in common with the United States," he said.

The report said there is a link between political freedom and economic growth. It claims that most countries that have recently embraced democratic values have much better economic growth than those that have not. One notable exception: China.

The study found that the economies of free countries grew over a nine-year period at a rate 70 percent higher than the average for countries that were not free, with an even more marked difference among poor nations.

Elections hailed

It said the biggest strides toward democracy and freedom had taken place in Mexico, where the election of President Vicente Fox brought democracy to Mexico after more than 70 years of virtual one-party rule by the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and Yugoslavia, where the election of President Vojislav Kostunica brought an end to the bloody rule of Slobodan Milosevic, "giving rise to hope for genuine peace in the Balkans."

Four countries -- Croatia, Ghana, Mexico and Suriname -- moved from partly free to free. Twenty-five other countries made progress, while 18 regressed.

Other nations praised included the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan, all of which saw crackdowns on corruption or charges brought against government or military officials, and Peru, where the resignation of President Alberto Fujimori was followed by gains for political freedom, human rights and the rule of law, Freedom House said.

Setbacks for freedom took place in the Middle East, with the renewed Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Russia and Ukraine, which saw erosion in political liberties.

A move against Venezuela's trade unions by President Hugo Chavez earned the South America country a black mark, while prospects for reform in Iran waned when conservative clerics led a backlash against the press and moderate figures, according to Freedom House.

Africa threat seen

Civil war and ethnic conflict in Africa engulfed much of the continent, with the possible widening of civil strife in Sierra Leone to Guinea and neighboring states, the report said.

But the group reserved its "worst of the worst" status for Afghanistan, Burma, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria and Turkmenistan, 11 nations in which citizens are denied a broad range of even the most basic freedoms, it said.

Democracy and freedom were most entrenched in Western Europe, which was 100 percent free, and least prevalent in the Middle East, where 71 percent of 14 countries were rated not free.

In evaluating nations, the survey drew on hundreds of publications and organizations for two sets of checklists, one for political rights and one for civil liberties.

Political rights enable people to participate freely in the political process, including voting and running for public office, while civil liberties cover the development of views, institutions and personal autonomy independent of the state.

Founded by Eleanor Roosevelt, among others, Freedom House describes itself as a nonpartisan organization working to fight for freedom by resisting totalitarian threats and supporting

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