ZURICH, Switzerland, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- In a study that examined the quality of 29 democracies, Denmark, Finland and Belgium came out on top with the United States ranked 10th, researchers say.
Researchers at the University of Zurich and the Social Science Research Center Berlin used a democracy barometer, a new instrument for measuring the quality of democracy by examining the functions of democracy -- selected from the areas freedom, equality and control.
The democracy barometer measures nine quality indicators -- the protection of personal freedom from infringements by third parties, especially the state; the rule of law; an active citizenship; transparency; participation; representation; political competition; a system of checks and balances and the ability to implement democratic decisions.
Following the top three countries for democracies are Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Canada, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the United States.
The democracy barometer is also used to illustrate developments over time. For example, the constitutional revision of 1999 in Switzerland as well as progress regarding transparency and participation catapulted Switzerland from 19th place in 1995 to ninth in 2005.
