diddly-squat said:
I call shenanigans on this, or at the very least would like to see an expanded definition of what constitutes being ‘free’
Freedom House is a reputable organisation and it seems a reasonable summary to me. They publish much more detailed assessments than is shown here.
>These reports are often used by political scientists when doing research. The ranking is highly correlated with several other ratings of democracy also frequently used by researchers.
In its 2003 report, for example, Canada (judged as fully free and democratic) got a perfect score of a “1” in civil liberties and a “1” in political rights, earning it the designation of “free.” Nigeria got a “5” and a “4,” earning it the designation of “partly free,” while North Korea scored the lowest rank of “7-7,” and was thus dubbed “not free.” Nations are scored from 0 to 4 on several questions and the sum determines the rankings. Example questions: “Is the head of state and/or head of government or other chief authority elected through free and fair elections?”, “Is there an independent judiciary?”, “Are there free trade unions and peasant organizations or equivalents, and is there effective collective bargaining? Are there free professional and other private organizations?” Freedom House states that the rights and liberties of the survey are derived in large measure from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The research and ratings process involved two dozen analysts and more than a dozen senior-level academic advisors. The eight members of the core research team headquartered in New York, along with 16 outside consultant analysts, prepared the country and territory reports. The analysts used a broad range of sources of information—including foreign and domestic news reports, academic analyses, nongovernmental organizations, think tanks, individual professional contacts, and visits to the region—in preparing the reports.
The country and territory ratings were proposed by the analyst responsible for each related report. The ratings were reviewed individually and on a comparative basis in a series of six regional meetings — Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Western Europe — involving the analysts, academic advisors with expertise in each region, and Freedom House staff. The ratings were compared to the previous year’s findings, and any major proposed numerical shifts or category changes were subjected to more intensive scrutiny. These reviews were followed by cross-regional assessments in which efforts were made to ensure comparability and consistency in the findings. Many of the key country reports were also reviewed by the academic advisers.
The survey’s methodology is reviewed periodically by an advisory committee of political scientists with expertise in methodological issues.<
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_House#Freedom_in_the_World
