The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) is pleased to release the latest edition of the Freedom Barometer Asia. This index is the attempt to develop a comprehensive tool to measure and compare levels of freedom in different countries. Rather than reinventing the wheal, FNF draws its information and data from reliable sources and compiles it in a way that reflects our liberal approach to measuring freedom.
The applied indicators include political, legal and economic rights. While most of the existing indices regard selected aspects of freedom, we believe that only a combination of all of these factors gives an adequate image of a state’s liberty in all its complexity.
The degree of political freedom is measured by the level of free and fair elections, the absence of undemocratic veto players, and the freedom of the press. Free and fair elections are the basis of a democracy. The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) puts emphasis on this element by declaring: “Electoral processes play a central role in democracy, based on the principle that the electoral process is integral to wider political processes and are not just a single technical event.”
In addition, particularly in reference to unconsolidated democracies (for example in Asia), undemocratic veto players (e.g. the military) often
disturb democratic processes and therefore this aspect is included in the Freedom Barometer as a variable. Press freedom is the third component of political freedom. Due to the highly political nature of the media, this variable forms part of our political freedom dimension. In terms of rule of law, the Freedom Barometer comprises the following variables: independence of courts and checks and balances, the level of corruption, and human rights protection.
The positive correlation between economic development and functioning democracy is a widely accepted fact. This is one of the major findings of the Economic Freedom of the World report and the reason for the inclusion of this report’s data in the Freedom Barometer Asia. The four applied variables here are: security of property rights, size of government (expenditures, taxes, and enterprises), regulation of credit, labour and business as well as the freedom to trade internationally. These are major rallying points for liberals around the world.
For the political dimension, we combined data from the Freedom House, Reporters without Borders and Transparency International. For the human rights component, FNF developed an own evaluation tool. Data from the Economic Freedom of the World Report by the Fraser Institute, the Index of Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation and the Bertelsmann Transformation Index are applied for quantifying the economic dimension of freedom. We would like to express our appreciation for the work of all these organizations.
Compared to last year’s version, the 2010 Freedom Barometer has undergone some modifications. Apart from remarkably gaining in size, we provide more background information on economic, political and social characteristics for each of the ranked Asian countries. Moreover, Mongolia is now included in the ranking.
Just like in 2009, Japan is the freest country in Asia and ranks on top of the list. This is due to a state system characterised by generally free and fair elections, an independent judiciary and a free market economy in the country. However, regarding the defence and protection of basic human rights, Japan shows some shortcomings.
The East Asian countries Taiwan and South Korea are both showing improvements in the degree of free and fair elections in the past years. The city state of Singapore has a strong economy with a high level of property rights protection and its competitive financial sector. However, due to manifold weaknesses with regards to civic rights and political freedom, Singapore ranks only fourth.
Newly included Mongolia achieved a rank in the upper third of the Freedom Barometer. Though burdened with a high corruption rate and human rights violations, Mongolia’s political landscape and economical system are relatively free.
Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines obtain almost identical scores. They are, in the words of the Freedom House, “partly free”, with a slight decrease in this years’ overall ranking compared to 2009. This is mainly due to violent internal conflicts and shortfalls in the freedom of press and freedom of expression. China and Vietnam are characterised by one-party systems and restricted press freedom and thus rated “not free”. With regard to the economy, Chinas performance in 2010 was exceptional. However, we should not be mislead by China’s fast economic growth. The Chinese financial sector and trade system are still heavily regulated. Because the country’s growth relies mainly on fixed-asset investment, the sustainability of Chinas development pattern remains low.
More information on the Freedom Barometer 2010 can be found on the website of the Economic Freedom Network Asia at www.efnasia.org and also on the website of the Friedrich Naumann Foundations’ regional website for East and Southeast Asia www.fnfasia.org.
Read the full report here:
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