Recent events in Egypt remind us that the road from ballot box to stable democracy is never straightforward. This infographic cuts through the complexity, presenting ten key facts.
- Most countries today are formal democracies
- Over one in three people live in authoritarian systems
- Elections have become almost universal
- Most leaders in Africa are replaced by ballots, not bullets
- But elections are not always peaceful
- The quality of many of these democracies remains deeply flawed
- Alternations of power remain remarkably limited in sub-Saharan Africa
- The wealthiest countries tend to be democracies
- The total number of women elected to parliament has almost doubled since 1997
- Expensive elections are not necessarily better
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