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Sweden ‘world’s third most democratic country’

Sweden is the third most democratic country in the world, according to the latest edition of the Economist's Democracy Index.

Published: 9 January 2019 12:21 CET

Sweden 'world's third most democratic country'

People cast their ballots on voting day. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

Only its Nordic neighbours Norway and Iceland scored higher in the ranking.

A total of 20 countries (home to only 4.5 percent of the global population) were judged to be 'fully democratic' while the rest of the 167 countries included in the survey were classed as 'flawed democracies'.

The index was based on the following categories: electoral process and pluralism, the functioning of government, political participation, democratic political culture and civil liberties. Overall, 2018 was the first time in three years that the overall score remained stable, with more countries improving their score than declining.

Sweden celebrated one century of democracy in 2018, and held a general election the same year. Turnout was up on the previous election, but the vote led to a very close result between the two major blocs. The country is still without a new government.

From the start of 2019, Sweden's electoral law was updated with a requirement that the area where ballot papers are located in a polling place must be hidden from view from other voters. This is in order to better guarantee voter secrecy, since Sweden's ballot papers have the name and logo of the chosen party on them.

The law change followed a report from international observers monitoring Sweden's election for the first time, which recommended improved secrecy as well as tighter rules on campaign funding.

IN DEPTH: How robust is Sweden's democracy? (Clue: not very)

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'Very little debate' on consequences of Sweden's crime and migration clampdown

The Liberties Rule of Law report shows Sweden backsliding across more areas than any other of the 19 European Union member states monitored, fuelling concerns that the country risks breaching its international human rights obligations, the report says.

“We’ve seen this regression in other countries for a number of years, such as Poland and Hungary, but now we see it also in countries like Sweden,” says John Stauffer, legal director of the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, which co-authored the Swedish section of the report.

The report, compiled by independent civil liberties groups, examines six common challenges facing European Union member states.

Sweden is shown to be regressing in five of these areas: the justice system, media environment, checks and balances, enabling framework for civil society and systemic human rights issues.

The only area where Sweden has not regressed since 2022 is in its anti-corruption framework, where there has been no movement in either a positive or negative direction.

Source: Liberties Rule of Law report

As politicians scramble to combat an escalation in gang crime, laws are being rushed through with too little consideration for basic rights, according to Civil Rights Defenders.

Stauffer cites Sweden’s new stop-and-search zones as a case in point. From April 25th, police in Sweden can temporarily declare any area a “security zone” if there is deemed to be a risk of shootings or explosive attacks stemming from gang conflicts.

Once an area has received this designation, police will be able to search people and cars in the area without any concrete suspicion.

“This is definitely a piece of legislation where we see that it’s problematic from a human rights perspective,” says Stauffer, adding that it “will result in ethnic profiling and discrimination”.

Civil Rights Defenders sought to prevent the new law and will try to challenge it in the courts once it comes into force, Stauffer tells The Local in an interview for the Sweden in Focus Extra podcast.

He also notes that victims of racial discrimination at the hands of the Swedish authorities had very little chance of getting a fair hearing as actions by the police or judiciary are “not even covered by the Discrimination Act”.

READ ALSO: ‘Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government’s repressive proposals’

Stauffer also expresses concerns that an ongoing migration clampdown risks splitting Sweden into a sort of A and B team, where “the government limits access to rights based on your legal basis for being in the country”.

The report says the government’s migration policies take a “divisive ‘us vs them’ approach, which threatens to increase rather than reduce existing social inequalities and exclude certain groups from becoming part of society”.

Proposals such as the introduction of a requirement for civil servants to report undocumented migrants to the authorities would increase societal mistrust and ultimately weaken the rule of law in Sweden, the report says.

The lack of opposition to the kind of surveillance measures that might previously have sparked an outcry is a major concern, says Stauffer.

Politicians’ consistent depiction of Sweden as a country in crisis “affects the public and creates support for these harsh measures”, says Stauffer. “And there is very little talk and debate about the negative consequences.”

Hear John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defender discuss the Liberties Rule of Law report in the The Local’s Sweden in Focus Extra podcast for Membership+ subscribers.

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