Publication of the 2010 Israeli Democracy Index

	Event Date(s): 11/29/2010
	Date Published: 11/14/2010	Last Updated: 11/30/2010
	Category: Events

On Tuesday, November 30, 2010, IDI submitted the Israeli Democracy Index for 2010 to President Shimon Peres. The Index, which has been published annually since 2003, is published as part of a project that is designed to conduct a comprehensive examination of the quality and performance of Israeli democracy, build a knowledge base that will advance research in this area, enrich public discourse on the subject, and increase awareness of the changes that are taking place in the quality and functioning of Israeli democracy – whether positive or negative.

A project of IDI's Guttman Center, the Israeli Democracy Index has been auditing and evaluating democracy in Israel since 2003. Published annually, the Index evaluates the quality of Israeli democracy based on comparative international indicators and an analysis of public opinion polls. Each year, the project polls some 1,200 Israelis in order to identify current trends in Israeli society and analyze attitudes towards the implementation of democratic values. The Index also includes an international evaluation that compares the level of democracy in Israel to 35 other democracies worldwide.

In addition to presenting a general evaluation, each year's Democracy Index focuses on a different central topic. Past topics have included Youth (2004), The Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin (2005), Political Parties (2006), Cohesion in a Divided Society (2007), Israeli Civil Society (2008), and Immigration from the Soviet Union (2009).

The 2010 Israeli Democracy Index is entitled "Democratic Values in Practice" and is dedicated to an examination of the Israeli public's attitudes towards democratic values and democratic behavior. The team responsible for this year's study was comprised of Prof. Asher Arian z"l, Prof. Tamar Hermann, Mr. Yuval Lebel, Mr. Michael Philippov, Ms. Hila Zaban, and Ms. Anna Knafelman.