In a democracy, political decisions are made considering the majority’s will. That does not mean those decisions are always democratic. The majority’s will also has to ensure the rights of individuals and minorities to be democratic in essence. Therefore, implementing democratic decisions is intrinsically the duty of the government.
Right here, we can observe the often overlooked difference between democracy and freedom, which are perceived as equal. Democracy is institutionalization or, in a deeper sense, the combination of principles and acts of protecting freedom. Democracy must at least be characterized by a majority rule, a government based on the acceptance of all citizens, free and fair elections, the protection of minority rights, and respect for fundamental human rights.
So, how democratic is Mongolia? We are relatively familiar with reports from Freedom House, the ranking of countries by the measurement of freedom. This article will highlight the 2020 report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), the ranking by the measurement of democracy.
The face of democracy
The EIU has published the Democracy Index for 14 consecutive years. The index rates the state of democracy in each country on a scale of 1 out of 10: with 8-10 indicating full democracy, 6-7.9 for flawed democracy, 4-5.9 for hybrid regime, and lower than 4 for authoritarian regime.
As of 2020, 23 out of 167 countries, home to 8.4% of the global population, were considered full democracies. Meanwhile, 41% or 52 countries were flawed democracies, 15% or 35 countries were hybrid regimes, and 35.6% or 57 countries were categorized as authoritarian regimes. More than one third of the world’s population lives in an authoritarian regime, of which most reside in our two neighboring countries. The 2020 report showed changes such as the US’s index declining, while in Asia, Japan’s, South Korea’s and Taiwan’s moving up to the “full democracy” category. France and Portugal descended into flawed democracies while Hong Kong slipped into the “hybrid regime” category along with El Salvador.
Mongolia is stuck being a flawed democracy, having a score of 6.48, which ranks it 61st out of 167 countries or, 10th in the region. The “flawed democracy” category includes those who have free and fair elections and secure fundamental rights for citizens but lack press freedom, political participation, and political culture.
Illustration 1. Global Democracy Index 2020Source: The Economist Intelligence Unit
In 2014-2016, Mongolia had its all-time-high score of 6.62 on the Democracy Index, scoring its highest on the criteria of electoral process, pluralism, and civil liberties. In 2020, the scores on electoral process and pluralism and civil liberties decreased by 0.42 and 1.48, respectively. Meanwhile, the scores on political participation and political culture were improved by 0.56 and 0.63, respectively.
However, it is noteworthy that Mongolia’s democracy score has fallen from 6.60 to 6.48 in the last 15 years, keeping it in this category.
Conclusion
The index is a comprehensive sum of five indicators: “electoral process and pluralism”, “functioning of government”, “political participation”, “political culture”, and “civil liberties”. But none of these makes sense in the absence of free and fair election or political freedom.
The high number of political arrests during the 2020 electoral campaigns were a way to influence the election in a timely manner. Although there are many media outlets and social media is growing rapidly, it is insufficient to refer to free press or the tolerance of pluralism when most of these outlets are controlled by political figures or current and former high-ranking officials. Mongolians are certainly struggling to adopt the culture of tolerance and understanding different opinions.
With the justice system, the press and the political power concentrated in the hands of wealthy individuals and owners of banks and big companies, corruption is rampant, and many big crimes are still not solved. In light of this, Mongolia’s current position in the index will hardly shift unless there is a surge in the political participation of the citizens.
2021.02.19
Trans. by Riya.T and Munkh-Erdene.D