Medição, classificação e qualificação em rankings internacionais: qual(s) modelo(s) de democracia?

Abstract

This master’s thesis was developed with the intention of characterizing the different democratic models used by two of the main international rankings that deal with measuring and classifying democracy based on indicators: “Freedom House” and “Economist Intelligence Unit” (EUI). The importance of this study lies in revealing the diversity of democratic models adopted by countries around the world and if this rankings can keep up with such diversity through their specialists’ analysis. To achieve that, we have included in this study a new theoretical approach that has emerged after the third wave of democratization: the “quality of democracy” approach. With the rise of the third wave of the democratization several countries around the world started to adopt the democratic model, creating a situation in which the theoretical focus stopped being the adoption of the democratic model and started to be its consolidation. The “quality of democracy” approach aims to perceive procedimental or substantive failures in the democracy developed in a given country, using empirical data. Through the analysis of surveys and reports made available by the rankings it was possible to trace some calculations that allowed us to determine the weight of each variable responsible by the classification of each country. Based on some very specific nuances, it was possible to come to the conclusion that “Freedom House” is still largely attached to the same criteria that were being used when the organization was founded in the 1940s – participation, for instance, is seen as a negative influence for democracy, except when considered from an electoral point of view. In EIU’s case, there’s a noticeable predisposition for a more open approach, making its criteria closer to the ones adopted by the “quality of democracy” approach, admitting in its survey categories such as political culture and participation (considered to encompass a larger array of phenomena, not limited to the electoral process).