On Mon, 26 Nov 2001 07:33, Anders Sandberg wrote:
> Free press doesn't mean you can print *anything*, but rather that you
> are allowed to express opinions freely about a wide range of
> subjects, especially society, economics and ideology without legal or
> other reprisal. It is not a binary state, but a continuum. The same
> goes for respect for law.
>
> I can of course weasel my way out of a claim like the one I did by
> arbitrarily tightening my definition of democracy, but that would
> make the claim irrelevant. Instead we can turn it around: what is the
> case of the most democratic countries going at war against each
> other, and why did it happen?
>
> The Ecuador-Peru conflict might be such an example. I see that the
> Freedom house freedom index (combining various civil liberties) of
> Peru in the period is 5.4 (partially free, just below unfree) and 2.3
> (free) for Ecuador (lower scores mean more freedom, most western
> states lie near 1.1, Afghanistan reaches 7.7); Peru also seem to have
> taken the initiative in the conflict.
I think you are misinterpreting the scores. I don't think they are
meant to be 5.4 and 2.3 (and 1.1, etc) , but rather 5, 4 and 2, 3, two
separate numbers, the first representing political liberties and the
second being civil liberties.
About the issue of who started Ecuador-Peru, i'm sure it would depend
on who you consult on the matter.
Alejandro
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