The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2010 democracy index ranks Liberia 97th out of 167 countries, an improvement of only one place since the previous ranking in 2008, leaving it firmly ensconced in the category of "hybrid regimes". The country's overall score (out of 10) actually worsened marginally from 5.25 in 2008 to 5.07 in 2010, but it edged up the table because of a decline in democracy across the world as the impact of the economic and financial crisis led to a backsliding on previous progress in democratisation. Liberia shares the category of "hybrid regimes" with other African countries such as Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia. This ranks it behind other African states such as South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, which are classed as "flawed democracies". Mauritius remains the continent's only full democracy.

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Weak governmental capacity-the biggest barrier to a better democracy

The quality of democracy is compromised by a number of factors. Of greatest concern is the poor functioning of government, which reflects weak administrative capacity and endemic corruption, although the reform process under the president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, is expected to see this improve. The weak judiciary and poor security situation have a negative impact on the score for civil liberties, which otherwise benefits from citizens being fairly free from repression. A political culture that is supportive of democracy and encourages political participation is emerging, but needs more time to consolidate. Liberia scores well for electoral process, given the free and fair nature of the 2005 elections, helped significantly by the international community, which provided voter education and organised and monitored the election.

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Democracy index 2010: Democracy in retreat, a free white paper containing the full index and detailed methodology, can be downloaded from www.eiu.com/DemocracyIndex2010.

Note on methodology

There is no consensus on how to measure democracy and definitions of democracy are contested. Having free and fair competitive elections, and satisfying related aspects of political freedom, is the sine qua non of all definitions. However, our index is based on the view that measures of democracy that reflect the state of political freedom and civil liberties are not "thick" enough: they do not encompass sufficiently some crucial features that determine the quality and substance of democracy. Thus, our index also includes measures of political participation, political culture and functioning of government, which are, at best, marginalised by other measures.

Our index of democracy covers 167 countries and territories. The index, on a 0 to 10 scale, is based on the ratings for 60 indicators grouped in five categories: electoral process and pluralism; civil liberties; the functioning of government; political participation; and political culture. The five categories are inter-related and form a coherent conceptual whole. Each category has a rating on a 0 to 10 scale, and the overall index of democracy is the simple average of the five category indexes.

The category indexes are based on the sum of the indicator scores in the category, converted to a 0 to 10 scale. Adjustments to the category scores are made if countries fall short in the following critical areas for democracy:

• whether national elections are free and fair;
• the security of voters;
• the influence of foreign powers on government; and
• the capability of the civil service to implement policies.

The index values are used to place countries within one of four types of regime:

• full democracies-scores of 8 to 10;
• flawed democracies-scores of 6 to 7.9;
• hybrid regimes-scores of 4 to 5.9;
• authoritarian regimes-scores below 4.