ZNACZENIE WOLNOŚCI MEDIÓW DLA LIBERALNYCH DEMOKRACJI NA PRZYKŁADZIE WYBRANYCH PAŃSTW EUROPEJSKICH - ANALIZA PODSTAWOWYCH INDEKSÓW DEMOKRACJI
THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA FREEDOM FOR LIBERAL DEMOCRACIES ON THE EXAMPLE OF SELECTED EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. ANALYSIS OF THE BASIC INDICES OF DEMOCRACY

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to present the state of democracy in selected European countries, both members of the European Union and its neighbours (including candidate states), on the basis of the best-known indices of democracy and freedom of the press (media), published by the following organisations which develop democracy indices: Freedom House (Freedom in the World, Nation in Transit, Freedom of the Press), The Economist Intelligence Unit (Democracy Index), Bertelsmann Stiftung (The Bertelsmann Transformation Index), V-Dem Institute (Democracy Report), and Reporters Without Borders (World Press Freedom Index), an organisation specialising in press freedom. The importance of assessing the level of media freedom in European countries and its impact on the overall assessment of their political systems is emphasised. In this way, the author attempts to prove the thesis that without legal guarantees of freedom of the press (media) and unless the authorities respect these principles in practice, no country can be classified as a democracy (all the more so as a liberal democracy).

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