In the Economist Intelligence Unit's 2010 democracy index, Qatar is ranked 137th out of 167 countries and is categorised as an "authoritarian" regime with an overall score of 3.09. The absence of parliamentary elections means it automatically scores zero in the electoral process category. It scores below the regional average for political participation and political culture because of the near-total domination of politics by a few families, principally the Al Thani. However, although the system of government is undemocratic by international standards, the society is generally moderate, and Qatar is ranked third in the region in the civil liberties category.

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Unrest is unlikely

Qatar has one of the highest levels of GDP per head in the world, which, along with extensive civil liberties (relative to the region), makes the prospect of social unrest unlikely. In another recent Economist Intelligence Unit index, the 2009 political instability index, Qatar was ranked as the least likely country to suffer social unrest in the region, after Oman. The recent announcement by the governing body for world football, FIFA, that Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup has been greeted with palpable enthusiasm in the country. However, the huge infrastructure projects required to host the tournament, and the associated influx of foreign labour, could prove controversial, especially as the inflow of foreign labour is already a contentious issue for many Qataris (who only number around 230,000-13% of the total population).

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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 regimes:

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