The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2010 democracy index ranks Comoros 127th out of 167 countries, placing it among 55 countries categorised as "authoritarian regimes". This group includes 24 other African countries, including Madagascar (113th), Ethiopia (118th), Zimbabwe (146th) and Sudan (151st). In contrast, the island state of Mauritius falls into the "full democracy" category, while neighbouring Tanzania and Mozambique are classified as "hybrid regimes". Comoros's poor score on the index is underpinned by long-standing strife between the Union and island administrations, an ineffectual government, and a disillusioned electorate. Since 2008 Comoros's score has weakened following a dispute over the term of the Union president, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi. In March 2010 Mr Sambi used the parliamentary majority of the ruling, Baobab Coalition to extend his term as president by 18 months, with the stated intention of harmonising the Union and island elections. This led to unrest on the island of Mohéli, to which the Union presidency was due to rotate in May 2010. Since mid-2010 there has been some progress in resolving the dispute; the African Union has brokered an agreement between Mr Sambi and the island governments, and elections have been held in accordance with this. If the transfer of power now takes place smoothly and if the president-elect, Ikililou Dhoinine, is able to build better relations with the island administrations, Comoros's score on the democracy index could begin to improve.

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Flawed elections

Comoros scores poorly in all five categories of the democracy index. The country's highest score is in the electoral process category. Elections for the Union president and island governors were held peacefully in late 2010. Although the elections were marred by flaws, international observer groups declared that they were "generally free and fair". If the transfer of power takes place smoothly, this will mark only the second time in Comoros's history that power is transferred through the ballot box-a significant milestone for this coup-ridden nation.

Ineffective government and widespread apathy

Comoros's lowest score is for the functioning of government. Although it has four governments-the Union government and one on each of the islands-none functions particularly well. Power is heavily concentrated in the executive, capacity is weak, transparency is low, and there is limited political will to push through much needed reforms. Policymaking has also been undermined by conflicts between the Union and island governments, although this could begin to improve following the referendum in May 2009 that removed the Union and islands' shared jurisdiction over some key areas and rebalanced power in favour of the centre. The weaknesses in the functioning of government have had knock-on effects on political participation and political culture, as they have engendered widespread disillusionment with the country's political system. Civil liberties are poorly protected. A private media does exist but is subject to government interference, and judicial independence, although improving, remains weak.

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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.