The democracy index, devised by the Economist intelligence unit measures the state of democracy in 167 countries around the world, 166 of which are sovereign states and 165 are members of the United Nations. In this index there are 4 different groupings which denote a countries level of democracy, at the top is a full democracy, of which many North American and western European countries belong. Next is a flawed democracy, of which many South American and Latin American countries belong. Next are hybrid regimes, of which many Asian and eastern European countries belong. Last, and therefore the least democratic counties are authoritarian regimes, which many north African and middle eastern countries belong.