EIU Democracy Index 2024: Romania downgraded to 'hybrid regime'

Romania’s score was downgraded after a “shaky decision” by the Constitutional Court to annul the elections, following allegations of Russian interference, illegal social media tactics and campaign finance violations, according to a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). In this ranking, 36 countries are classified as “hybrid regimes”, which combine elements of electoral democracy with authoritarian behavior. Romania was downgraded from the rank of “flawed democracy” to “hybrid regime” in The Economist’s Democracy Index, an annual ranking conducted for several decades, which analyzes five criteria: electoral processes and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, political culture and civil liberties. Romania’s score was downgraded after allegations of Russian interference, illegal social media tactics and campaign finance violations led the Constitutional Court to annul the presidential election and request a new vote, The Economist writes. In the ranking, which analyzes the situation in 167 countries, 36 are classified as “hybrid regimes,” which combine elements of electoral democracy with authoritarian behavior. Also, 71 countries are classified as democracies—25 “full democracies” and 46 “flawed democracies.” The remaining countries—60 in number—live under an “authoritarian regime.” Romania’s score fell by 0.46 points to 5.99, and our country dropped 12 places in the ranking to join the other four “hybrid regimes” in the region – Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine. Romanian citizens responded with a mixture of anger and relief to the Constitutional Court’s decision to annul the results of the first round of the presidential election on November 24 and the second round on December 8. In a “shaky ruling”, without presenting concrete evidence to support its decision, the court claimed that a foreign influence operation on social media influenced the outcome of the elections, the EIU study states. The first round was won by two anti-mainstream candidates, who outscored the candidates of the ruling parties, who had become extremely unpopular. The court’s decision to annul the election, based on obscure reports of Russian interference in the election, is an extraordinary measure, as the evidence was, at best, questionable, the study’s authors say. The claim that voters for right-wing outsider C?lin Georgescu were widely influenced by a TikTok campaign lacks credibility, especially given the social composition of Georgescu’s supporters – many of whom are older rural voters who get their news from television (television being dominated by the ruling parties), the study argues. Later, evidence emerged that one of the ruling parties, the National Liberal Party (PNL), provided funding for the social media campaign in support of Georgescu, in a tactical move that backfired on him, the study’s authors add. This failure will further undermine the extremely low level of citizens’ trust in the government and political parties, the study says. Romania was classified as a “flawed democracy” and, therefore, the drop in its overall score from 6.45 to 5.99 in 2024 was enough to lead to its downgrade to the rank of a “hybrid regime”. The cancellation of the elections negatively affected the country’s score in the “electoral process and pluralism” section, but the downgrade in other scores would have occurred even without the year-end event, the EIU study says. Polling data confirmed that public trust in political parties and the government has fallen further in the past year, leading to a decline in several indicators. In line with a global benchmarking exercise, Romania’s score for the prevalence of corruption has also been downgraded. There is a risk that Romania’s score will drop even further in 2025, depending on how it handles the repeat presidential election and what else emerges about the original reasons for canceling the election, the study’s authors say. Measures taken by the government to modify electoral rules governing social media behavior in elections and by the parties in power to block the chances of an anti-establishment candidate winning do not bode well for the health of democracy in Romania, the study adds. (Source:https://www.eiu.com/n/democracy-index-2024/