On a scale from 0 to 12 points, China was awarded only one point, while Russia was marked with a five. Most western European countries and the United States scored the maximum.

The study was conducted by the "e-Parliament" group, which promotes the process of parliamentary democracy, under the leadership of Professor Steve Fish, at the University of California, Berkeley.

It gave scores out of four for three broad criteria: how free candidates are to take part; fairness in voter registration, voting procedures and the vote count; and freedom of expression during election campaigns.

A mark from zero to five was given where there was no electoral process, six to eight was for a "restrictive electoral process", nine to 10 was granted if the election was "mostly open" and an 11 or 12 for an "open" process.

Brunei, Eritrea, Libya, Myanmar, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan and Turkmenistan scored zero. North Korea and Cuba were given one point.

In Africa, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mauritius and South Africa excelled with 12 points, while Benin scored 11 and, perhaps surprisingly, Liberia 10.

They surpassed Balkans states, which were awarded marks ranging from eight in Macedonia to nine in Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo, among others.

Elections in the Palestinian Territories were given a score of nine, beaten only by Israel -- with 12 -- in the entire Middle East.

The militant group Hamas dominates the Palestinian assembly, after its stunning win in the last parliamentary elections there in January 2006.

Hamas is on the European Union and US blacklist of "terror groups" and Brussels and Washington refuse to hold direct talks with its representatives.

"Where parliaments are strong, there is at least some prospect for popular control over the rulers," the study's authors said.

"Where they are weak, there is a high probability that relations between rulers and the ruled will take the form of domination rather than governance."

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