The Status of Democracy Index (SDI) measures each country's progress toward democratic governance through multiple variables. First, it measures governance through four variables: how heads of state and members of the legislature are selected; political party development; suffrage; and the maturity of civil liberties [...]

The Status of Democracy Index rates each of these nine variables on a three-point scale: 0 (nonexistent), 1 (emerging), or 2 (fully present). Some of the variables, such as media freedom, religious liberty, and respect for human rights, are easy to quantify, whereas measuring human development is more subjective. Economic freedom can be scored on the level of governmental interference in the economy: 0 (strong), 1 (moderate), and 2 (low). It is then possible to convert the totals to a percentage for ease of digestion.[10] [...]

Only three of these countries—Mali, Guyana, and Suriname —are considered full democracies.

http://www.meforum.org/article/1921

pretty informative

thanks Deepti I subscribed to their newsletter. I'll check out the pdf file later.

Thanks merrie Thanks Deepti.

But Deepti;
(1) Sorry to say "some of the figures in your table are doubtful". I'm shore because i have been in some of these countries for sufficient time to judge.
(2) Pleas; What you mean by "Muslim SDI Ranking"?.

Religion is not the reason but People and Circumstances.

@Yassin,
I have nothing to do with that pdf....I just provided the link for anyone who might be interested to see the results