My point was more on how it is perceived from outside the Magistracy.
Okay, this is worded better and makes more sense, so let's look at the 1st edition Periphery book. Given that it's a ComStar document in-universe, it's at least a start when it comes to how the Magistracy is perceived by others.
"Despite this political domination [of the Centrella family], the Magistracy has retained a surprising number of individual freedoms; its judicial and legislative bodies support human rights to a degree often lacking with the governments of the Inner Sphere."
"At present, each Magistracy citizen is guaranteed the right to elect legally protected representatives. Other rights, including trial by jury and freedom of speech, are protected as much by tradition as by Star League precedents."
Plus there's the fact that their Constitution enshrines the fact that if an individual can prove that they are the victim of political, religious or social oppression, they and their descendants are granted unconditional citizenship, and Canopian citizens are free to pursue whatever social status they desire. And I might even venture as to say that the Canopians making voting mandatory AND prohibiting political parties and special interest groups contributes to their social freedoms as well.
Looking at the other major Periphery realms, it seems like their own social freedoms run more or less along the same lines. I wouldn't say the Canopians even necessarily stand out from the Taurians or the Outworlders in this regard, as they all grant pretty much all of the same rights and freedoms. There are definitely ways in which the Taurians and Outworlders do a better job (the Taurians' education system, for example, which I daresay is absolutely an important component in social freedom).
But the Canopians definitely have a history of being a bastion of social (not to mention religious and artistic) freedoms, entrenched matriarchy notwithstanding.
