Is France a democracy? Most people would assume there is a straightforward answer - "Yes". After all, France has free and fair elections. However, there is more to a truly democratic society than elections alone, writes Simon Baptist of 'The Economist Intelligence Unit' in this article published by BBC News.
France is a democracy, but not a full democracy, according to the newly published sixth edition of The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index. More accurately, it is a "flawed democracy".
We give it a score of 7.92 out of 10, below the 25 countries that scored 8.00 or above - all full democracies - and fractionally below Botswana, another flawed democracy. But it's above the other 140 countries covered by the index, and a long way from being classified as a "hybrid regime" or - quelle horreur - "authoritarian".
So, what is it that lets France down? France is up there with the top democracies in regard to its electoral process, civil liberties, and political participation - which refers to such things as voter turnout, the number of women MPs and preparedness to participate in lawful demonstrations. It is let down by its relatively poor showing in terms of functioning of government and political culture.
A couple of examples: Consider the power of the French parliament. In a country such as Norway, ranked first, or Australia, ranked sixth, the legislature is the supreme decision-making body. France's legislature, by contrast, is one of the weakest in Europe. Because the president wields huge power, it is difficult for the legislature to shape legislation and hold the government to account.
The president is elected too, of course, but there is a greater risk of a single decision-maker taking action against citizens' wishes than a legislature composed of hundreds of elected officials, which has its own inherent checks and balances.
This is one reason France performs badly with regard to "functioning of government".
Here's another example. French citizens, by their own admission, have very low trust in government or political parties - surveys show them to be some of the most disaffected in Europe. The autumn 2013 Eurobarometer survey, for example, revealed that only 7% of French people trust their political parties, while only 14% trust the national government - both well below the European average. This may be one factor contributing to the defeat of mainstream parties in last month's European election. It is also one reason why France is not ranked highly for "political culture".
In the first version of the Democracy Index, eight years ago, France was rated as a full democracy. It was downgraded in the third edition, in 2010, due to the decline in public confidence in politicians and because of its low levels of political engagement. In the latest World Values Survey for France, only 37% of people were somewhat or very interested in politics, as compared to 44% in the UK and 58% in the US.
Since 2010, however, France's score has been edging up again and it is now very close to being classed as a full democracy.
Spain, meanwhile, has been moving in the other direction. Currently ranked two places higher than France, at 25th, its democracy has weakened over the past five years, and 2014 could well be the year that France overtakes it.
There are other European countries - including Italy (31st), Portugal (34th) and Poland (44th) - languishing further down the ranks of flawed democracies. Romania, the lowest-ranked member of the EU, comes in at 60th.
Read more of this article from BBC News.