One always has to take these surveys with a pinch of salt. What is presented as a series of scores and statistics on paper can feel far from the reality of people's experience living in these countries. But equally, these surveys can also challenge our undertsanding of topics and at least make us think a little deeper about our beliefs.<p>Anyway, for those who don't want to download the Economist report, here is the list of countries ranked as "full democracies" by the Economist Intelligence Unit:<p><pre><code> 1 Norway
2 Sweden
3 Iceland
4 Denmark
5 New Zealand
6 Australia
7 Switzerland
8 Canada
9 Finland
10 Luxembourg
11 Netherlands
12 Ireland
13 Austria
14 United Kingdom
15 Germany
16 Malta
=17 Uruguay
=17 Mauritius
19 USA
20 Japan
=21 Czech Republic
=21 South Korea
23 Belgium
24 Spain</code></pre>