The Most Democratic Country

Which country is the most democratic country in the world? Is a President better than Prime Minister or not? How important is a written constitution, an elected Senate, or the electoral system? All the consolidated democracies of the North share the notion of fundamental rights of citizens and are accountable through elections, but institutional differences do make some countries more representative than others. A federalist country with a parliamentary system, a written constitution, an independent court, and a representative electoral system will be best able to represent its citizens and thus be one on the most democratic countries of the North.

The Northern states have two elements in common: civil liberties and democratic procedures. Liberties, like freedom of religion, expression, assembly, and association, are a fundamental right of citizens in the North that provide for the open communication and protection of individuals. Northern governments recognize and generally respect such rights which provide open communication and protection of individuals, even though governments sometimes restrict freedoms, like the USA's Patriot Act. Together with freedoms, democratic societies respect the rule of law, hold free and open elections, and have at least some separation of powers.

The parliamentary and presidential systems, found right across the Northern State, or sometimes on combination, allow citizens to elect a legislative and executive branch. The presidential system disperses power between the executive and the legislative branches and requires a substantial amount of cooperation to pass laws, even when the same party controls both branches. Each branch typically leads a particular policy area, for example in the US the Congress concentrates on domestic policy, where the president focuses on foreign affairs. However, in this example, Congress must approve the budget for presidential policy, and thus provides a case-by-case examination of the