ABSTRACTEvery year, the UN publishes a report on human development in which countries are evaluated based on the human development index (HDI). This index is calculated by taking into account the population’s average life expectancy, education and per capita income. For the first time, Latvia was ranked among the developed countries of the world in this report. This year’s report “Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World” is devoted to an analysis of the role played by the existing level of democracy and state administration in a country in the process of human development and social and economic growth.
The report concludes that the rapid process of democracy development that existed in the eighties and nineties has stopped, with authoritative regimes returning to many countries or the emergence of economic and social tension.
Despite the high index of wealthy countries, the report stresses that per capita income is not a sufficient criterion to improve life for ordinary people. For example, the per capita income in Pakistan and Vietnam is the same, but Vietnam has allotted more of this income to education and health care.
UN Human Development Report 2002. Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World