Here's an interesting story:
The number of electoral democracies around the world rose from 119 to 122 this year, setting a new record as freedom made inroads in the Middle East and Africa, an independent monitoring group said. But in its annual report rating every nation in the world as "free," "partly free" or "not free," Freedom House on Monday expressed concern about countries like the United States and France, where it saw "looming problems" with electoral setups and immigrant integration.
"These global findings are encouraging," said Arch Puddington, director of research at the organization.
"Among other things, the past year has been notable for terrorist violence, ethnic cleansing, civil conflict, catastrophic natural disasters, and geopolitical polarization," he added. "That freedom could thrive in this environment is impressive."
The three additions to the list of electoral democracies were the African nations of Burundi, Liberia and the Central African Republic.
The three countries afforded considerable space for political opposition and met the minimum standard of a fair vote count, the report said.
But the most significant improvements were noted in the Middle East, where Lebanon was upgraded from "not free" to "partly free," despite a series of political killings that shook the country.
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