Special Report: How to be small and successful in Latin America (ISSN 17414474)

Of our ‘small and successful’ country group composed of Costa Rica, Panama, and Uruguay, Uruguay did best of the three in the 2017 Democracy Index prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), coming in 18^th out of 167 countries (ahead of the United States which was ranked equal 21^st with Italy). Uruguay was ranked as a “full democracy”. This category is defined as gathering those nations where civil liberties and basic political freedoms are not only respected but reinforced by a political culture conducive to the thriving of democratic principles. These countries have governmental checks and balances, an independent judiciary, adequately functioning governments, and a diverse and independent media. Uruguay got its highest scores for electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, and the functioning of government. Its weaker areas were political culture and political participation.