DISINFO: Studies shows that China is more democratic than the US (and Russia almost as democratic as the US)
SUMMARY
Studies have shown that China is more democratic than the United States, Russia is nearby, and Ukraine is “at the bottom”.
RESPONSE
Recurrent disinformation on about the western countries being dictatorships and while Russia and China are democracies. It is a malign misinterpretation of the methodology of a survey The study that conducted in different countries of the world by Alliance for Democracy and Dalia Research to assess the opinion about democracy shows that the more democratic the country is the more people are exigent for even more democracy. The less democratic the country is, the less people will be willing to express dissatisfaction or ask for more democracy. Therefore, it cannot be inferred that China is much more democratic than the US and Russia much more than Ukraine. As Dr. Nico Jaspers, CEO, Dalia Research, says:
“Democracy’s crisis is not about people losing faith in democracy – it’s about people demanding more.”
Democracy is about different mechanisms that allow the will of the people to be expressed and the rule of law to prevail and guaranty the right of everyone. It is possible to classify countries in the world for their level of democracy. Freedom House, for instance, classifies the United States of America as a free country (86/100) whereas Russia (20/100) and China (10/100) are not free.
China’s authoritarian regime has become increasingly repressive in recent years. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is tightening its control over the state bureaucracy, the media, online speech, religious groups, universities, businesses, and civil society associations, and it has undermined its own already modest rule-of-law reforms. The CCP leader and state president, Xi Jinping, has consolidated personal power to a degree not seen in China for decades, but his actions have also triggered rising discontent among elites within and outside the party. The country’s budding human rights movements continue to seek avenues for protecting basic rights despite a multiyear crackdown.
Opinion polls are interesting to follow the evolution of one country over time, however, to be conclusive about world ranking it is necessary to evaluate objective criteria alike Freedom House does and not limit the study about the opinion of a random person. Indeed the less free the country is, the less likely the person will complain. To read similar stories: Russian government, unlike France or the EU, has a legitimacy that comes from the masses, Estonia is a totalitarian country, There is a deterioration of democracy in the West, The US is a dictatorship.