Lebanon is ranked 86th out of 167 countries surveyed in the Economist Intelligence Unit's democracy index. It is one of only three in the region classified as a "hybrid regime" (the Palestinian Territories and Iraq are its peers, while Israel is classed as a "flawed democracy"). Most countries in the region are categorised as "authoritarian". Its highest score is for the electoral process category, where it scores 7.92 out of ten, reflecting universal suffrage, relatively free nationwide elections for the presidency, parliament and municipal authorities, the freedom of citizens to form political parties and the fact that opposition parties have a realistic chance of participating in government-all factors that are absent from many other countries in the region.

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However, the score is constrained by the lack of transparency over the funding of political parties, the risk that election results could be disputed and the restrictions on the ability of some citizens to hold certain public offices (depending on the confessional group they belong to). The weakest score is for the functioning of government category, reflecting widespread popular cynicism about politics, politicians and voting, as well as the limited authority of the state in the south of the country, parts of the north and the Palestinian camps. Although opposition parties may have a realistic prospect of coming to power, the same few leaders have dominated the political scene for many years, and their foreign backers play a significant role in determining their alliances, leading much of the public to take a sceptical view of party politics.

Trust in government is limited

The current political impasse in the country has raised concerns about prospects for social unrest, and risks to the state of democracy. Public trust in politicians is already limited, partly because of widespread corruption. Moreover, Lebanon has a more vibrant and independent private sector than many of its regional peers, and the government is less likely to be held responsible for a slowdown in growth than its counterparts in more state-driven economies, such as those in the Gulf. Political participation could even increase if rising global unemployment means fewer young Lebanese have the option of emigrating.

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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 indices.

The category indices 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.