Sweden: Democracy and Research

Okay, now we have a right wing government in Sweden, with political standpoints on many issues were I disagree. But Sweden is still a good country – so far. This weekend I read two flattering reports, one about democracy and one about science.

The Economist is publishing a report from Freedom House about how democratic the countries in the world are. And the number one spot goes to Sweden! Neither The Economist nor Freedom House is a Social Democratic organization…

Through Eric Sundström I found the American Democratic think-tank Progressive Policy Institute, which have listed the world’s most research intensive countries. Sweden rank second to Israel among all countries in the world. If the American states were individual countries only three states would rank higher than Sweden: New Mexico, Massachusetts and Maryland.

An interesting note: nine of the ten first states, and 16 of the top 20, voted for the Democratic candidate in the presidential election 2000 and 2004. States that voted for Bush dominate the bottom of the list.