josh@topaz.ARPA (J Storrs Hall) (03/08/85)
Freedom House has come out with its 1985 survey of nations rated according to political freedom. They base the ratings on civil rights and the degree of involvement of the people in the political decision-making process: they do not consider "economic freedom" in their ratings. The ratings are 1 (free) to 7 (not free). 19 out of the 221 got a 1 for both civil and political freedom. There are also ratings as to the economic system, i.e., capitalist, socialist, and various mixtures. Of the 19 double-1 countries, 12 are considered capitalist, 6 capitalist-welfarist, and one (Italy) is capitalist with significant state enterprises. Of the 43 nations rated pure socialist, none rated better than 5 in either civil or political liberty. 16 rated a double 7. Freedom House, which is not an economically ideological organization, was at a loss to interpret their findings, (as quoted in On Principle): the correlation "may be an expression of historical chance. Still, socialists must be concerned by the empirical relationship between "not free" and socialism that is found." Personally, I think that if they had read Hayek's "Road to Serfdom", they'd have a lot easier time understanding what's going on. --JoSH