France isn't a "true democracy"

One always has to take these surveys with a pinch of salt. What is presented as a series of scores and statistics on paper can feel far from the reality of people's experience living in these countries. But equally, these surveys can also challenge our undertsanding of topics and at least make us think a little deeper about our beliefs.

Anyway, for those who don't want to download the Economist report, here is the list of countries ranked as "full democracies" by the Economist Intelligence Unit:

  1    Norway
  2    Sweden
  3    Iceland
  4    Denmark
  5    New Zealand
  6    Australia
  7    Switzerland
  8    Canada
  9    Finland
  10   Luxembourg
  11   Netherlands
  12   Ireland 
  13   Austria 
  14   United Kingdom
  15   Germany
  16   Malta 
  =17  Uruguay 
  =17  Mauritius
  19   USA
  20   Japan
  =21  Czech Republic
  =21  South Korea
  23   Belgium
  24   Spain