Freedom in the World

Last updated

2023 Freedom in the World.png
2022 [1]
1973 Freedom in the World.png
1972
  Free  Partly free  Not free  Not covered

Freedom in the World is a yearly survey and report by the U.S.-based non-governmental organization Freedom House that measures the degree of civil liberties and political rights in every nation and significant related and disputed territories around the world. [2]

Contents

Origin and use

Freedom in the World was launched in 1973 by Raymond Gastil. It produces annual scores representing the levels of political rights and civil liberties in each state and territory, on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Depending on the ratings, the nations are then classified as "Free", "Partly Free", or "Not Free". [3] The report is often used by researchers in order to measure democracy and correlates highly with several other measures of democracy such as the Polity data series. [4]

The Freedom House rankings are widely reported in the media and used as sources by political researchers. Their construction and use has been evaluated by critics and supporters. [5]

Country rankings

Countries designated "electoral democracies" in Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2023 survey, covering the year 2022 Electoral democracies.svg
   Countries designated "electoral democracies" in Freedom House's Freedom in the World 2023 survey, covering the year 2022

The rankings are from the Freedom in the World 2019, [7] 2020, [8] 2021, [9] and 2022 surveys, each report covering the previous year. The average of each pair of ratings on political rights and civil liberties determines the overall status of "Free" (1.0–2.5), "Partly Free" (3.0–5.0), or "Not Free" (5.5–7.0). [10]

An asterisk (*) indicates countries which are "electoral democracies". To qualify as an "electoral democracy", a state must have satisfied the following criteria:

  1. A competitive, multiparty political system;
  2. Adult suffrage for all citizens without criminal convictions (some states may further punish and subjugate people with criminal convictions by disenfranchising them from the democratic process);
  3. Regularly contested elections conducted in conditions of ballot secrecy, reasonable ballot security, and the absence of massive voter fraud that yields results that are unrepresentative of the public will; and
  4. Significant public access of major political parties to the electorate through the media and through generally open political campaigning.

An electoral democracy must have a score of 7 or more out of 12 in political rights subcategory A (Electoral Progress), an overall aggregate score of 20 in their political rights rating and an overall aggregate score of 30 in their civil liberties rating. [11]

Freedom House's term "electoral democracy" differs from "liberal democracy" in that the latter also implies the presence of a substantial array of civil liberties. In the survey, all Free countries qualify as both electoral and liberal democracies. By contrast, some Partly Free countries qualify as electoral, but not liberal, democracies. [10]

World

* indicates "Civil liberties in country or territory" or "Human rights in country or territory" links.

PR = political rights, CL = civil liberties

2025

Country (2025)
Electoral
democracy [12]
PR rating [13] CL rating [13] TotalPRCLOverall
status
Afghanistan No77615Not free
Albania Yes33682840Partly free
Algeria No65311021Not free
Andorra Yes11933855Free
Angola No65281018Not free
Antigua and Barbuda Yes22833251Free
Argentina Yes22853550Free
Armenia Yes44542331Partly free
Australia Yes11953956Free
Austria Yes11933756Free
Azerbaijan No77707Not free
Bahamas Yes12903852Free
Bahrain No7612210Not free
Bangladesh No54451629Partly free
Barbados Yes11943757Free
Belarus No77716Not free
Belgium Yes11963957Free
Belize Yes21883553Free
Benin No43601842Partly free
Bhutan Yes23683236Free
Bolivia Yes33652639Partly free
Bosnia and Herzegovina No53521735Partly free
Botswana Yes22753144Free
Brazil Yes23723042Free
Brunei No6527720Not free
Bulgaria Yes22773245Free
Burkina Faso No7525322Not free
Burundi No7615411Not free
Cambodia No7523419Not free
Cameroon No661569Not free
Canada Yes11973958Free
Cape Verde Yes11923854Free
Central African Republic No77514Not free
Chad No7615114Not free
Chile Yes11953857Free
China No769-211Not free
Colombia Yes23703139Free
Comoros No54421626Partly free
Congo (Democratic Republic) No7618414Not free
Congo (Republic) No7617215Not free
Costa Rica Yes11913853Free
Croatia Yes22823448Free
Cuba No761019Not free
Cyprus Yes11913853Free
Czech Republic Yes11953758Free
Denmark Yes11974057Free
Djibouti No7524519Not free
Dominica Yes11923755Free
Dominican Republic Yes33682741Partly free
Ecuador Yes33652837Partly free
Egypt No6618612Not free
El Salvador No54471730Partly free
Equatorial Guinea No77505Not free
Eritrea No77312Not free
Estonia Yes11963957Free
Eswatini No7617116Not free
Ethiopia No6618810Not free
Fiji Yes33692841Partly free
Finland Yes111004060Free
France Yes12893851Free
Gabon No7521219Not free
The Gambia No44502228Partly free
Georgia No44552134Partly free
Germany Yes11954055Free
Ghana Yes22803545Free
Greece Yes22853550Free
Grenada Yes12893752Free
Guatemala No44481929Partly free
Guinea No6530723Not free
Guinea-Bissau No54411526Partly free
Guyana Yes22743044Free
Haiti No6524618Not free
Honduras No44482226Partly free
Hungary Yes33652441Partly free
Iceland Yes11953857Free
India Yes24633132Partly free
Indonesia No34562828Partly free
Iran No771147Not free
Iraq No56311615Not free
Ireland Yes11973958Free
Israel Yes23733439Free
Italy Yes11893653Free
Ivory Coast No44491930Partly free
Jamaica Yes22803347Free
Japan Yes11964056Free
Jordan No55341222Partly free
Kazakhstan No7523518Not free
Kenya No44512229Partly free
Kiribati Yes11893653Free
Kosovo Yes34602832Partly free
Kuwait No6531714Not free
Kyrgyzstan No7526422Not free
Laos No7613211Not free
Latvia Yes12893752Free
Lebanon No54391326Partly free
Lesotho Yes23663036Free
Liberia Yes24643034Partly free
Libya No761028Not free
Liechtenstein Yes21903357Free
Lithuania Yes12893851Free
Luxembourg Yes11973859Free
Madagascar No44552134Partly free
Malawi Yes33652837Partly free
Malaysia No44532231Partly free
Maldives No45432023Partly free
Mali No6524618Not free
Malta Yes22873552Free
Marshall Islands Yes11933855Free
Mauritania No55391524Partly free
Mauritius Yes22863551Free
Mexico Yes34592633Partly free
Micronesia Yes11923755Free
Moldova Yes33602535Partly free
Monaco Yes31822557Free
Mongolia Yes12843648Free
Montenegro Yes33692742Partly free
Morocco No55371324Partly free
Mozambique No54411229Partly free
Myanmar No77707Not free
Namibia Yes32732845Free
Nauru Yes23753243Free
Nepal Yes34622834Partly free
Netherlands Yes11973958Free
New Zealand Yes11994059Free
Nicaragua No7614212Not free
Niger No7530525Not free
Nigeria No45442024Partly free
North Korea No77303Not free
North Macedonia Yes33672839Partly free
Norway Yes11993960Free
Oman No6524618Not free
Pakistan No55321220Partly free
Palau Yes11923755Free
Panama Yes22833548Free
Papua New Guinea No43612239Partly free
Paraguay Yes33632637Partly free
Peru Yes33672839Partly free
Philippines Yes34582533Partly free
Poland Yes22823448Free
Portugal Yes11963957Free
Qatar No6525718Not free
Romania Yes22823448Free
Russia No761248Not free
Rwanda No6621714Not free
Samoa Yes22843252Free
San Marino Yes11973958Free
São Tomé and Príncipe Yes22843549Free
Saudi Arabia No76918Not free
Senegal Yes23693039Free
Serbia No43561838Partly free
Seychelles Yes22803446Free
Sierra Leone Yes43592336Partly free
Singapore No44481929Partly free
Slovakia Yes11893653Free
Slovenia Yes11963957Free
Solomon Islands Yes32752847Free
Somalia No77826Not free
South Africa Yes22813447Free
South Korea Yes22813249Free
South Sudan No771-34Not free
Spain Yes11903753Free
Sri Lanka Yes34582632Partly free
Saint Kitts and Nevis Yes21893554Free
Saint Lucia Yes11913853Free
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Yes11903654Free
Sudan No772-35Not free
Suriname Yes22803446Free
Sweden Yes11994059Free
Switzerland Yes11963957Free
Syria No765-38Not free
Tajikistan No77505Not free
Tanzania No65351124Not free
Thailand No65341123Not free
Timor-Leste Yes23723339Free
Togo No54411427Partly free
Tonga Yes22803050Free
Trinidad and Tobago Yes22823349Free
Tunisia No64441133Partly free
Turkey No56331716Not free
Turkmenistan No77101Not free
Tuvalu Yes11933756Free
Uganda No65341024Not free
Ukraine No44512328Partly free
United Arab Emirates No7618513Not free
United Kingdom Yes11923953Free
United States Yes22843450Free
Uruguay Yes11964056Free
Uzbekistan No7612210Not free
Vanuatu Yes22823250Free
Venezuela No7613013Not free
Vietnam No7620416Not free
Yemen No761019Not free
Zambia No44532231Partly free
Zimbabwe No6526917Not free

Before 2025

CountryElectoral democracy201920202021202220232024
PRCLOverall
status
PtsPRCLOverall
status
PtsPRCLOverall
status
PtsPRCLOverall
status
PtsPRCLOverall
status
PtsPRCLOverall
status
Pts
Flag of the Taliban.svg  Afghanistan * No56Not2756Not2756Not2777Not2
Flag of Albania.svg  Albania * Yes33Partly6833Partly6733Partly6633Partly67
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria * No65Not3465Not3465Not3265Not32
Flag of Andorra.svg  Andorra * Yes11Free9411Free9411Free9311Free93
Flag of Angola.svg  Angola * No65Not3165Not3265Not3165Not30
Flag of Antigua and Barbuda.svg  Antigua and Barbuda * Yes22Free8422Free8522Free8522Free85
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina * Yes22Free8422Free8522Free8422Free84
Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia * No44Partly5144Partly5344Partly5544Partly55
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia * Yes11Free9811Free9711Free9711Free95
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria * Yes11Free9311Free9311Free9311Free93
Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan * No76Not1176Not1076Not1076Not9
Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas Yes11Free9111Free9111Free9111Free91
Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain * No76Not1276Not1176Not1276Not12
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh * No55Partly4155Partly3955Partly3955Partly39
Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados Yes11Free9611Free9511Free9511Free95
Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus * No76Not1976Not1976Not1177Not8
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium * Yes11Free9611Free9611Free9611Free96
Flag of Belize.svg  Belize * Yes12Free8622Free8621Free8721Free87
Flag of Benin.svg  Benin * No22Free7942Partly6642Partly6553Partly59
Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan * Yes34Partly5934Partly5924Partly6134Partly61
Flag of Bolivia.svg  Bolivia * Yes33Partly6733Partly6333Partly6633Partly66
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina * No44Partly5344Partly5344Partly5344Partly53
Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana * Yes32Free7232Free7232Free7232Free72
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil * Yes22Free7522Free7523Free7423Free73
Flag of Brunei.svg  Brunei * No65Not2965Not2865Not2865Not28
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria * Yes22Free8022Free8022Free7822Free79
Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso * Yes43Partly6044Partly5644Partly5444Partly53
Flag of Burundi.svg  Burundi * No76Not1476Not1376Not1476Not14
Flag of Cambodia.svg  Cambodia * No65Not2675Not2575Not2475Not24
Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon * No66Not1966Not1866Not1666Not15
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada * Yes11Free9911Free9811Free9811Free98
Flag of Cape Verde.svg  Cape Verde * Yes11Free9011Free9211Free9211Free92
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic * No77Not977Not1077Not977Not7
Flag of Chad.svg  Chad * No76Not1776Not1776Not1776Not15
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile * Yes11Free9412Free9011Free9311Free94
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China * No76Not1176Not1076Not976Not9
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia * Yes33Partly6633Partly6633Partly6533Partly64
Flag of the Comoros.svg  Comoros * No44Partly5044Partly4454Partly4254Partly42
Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  DR Congo * No76Not1576Not1876Not20
Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Congo * No75Not2175Not2075Not20
Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica * Yes11Free9111Free9111Free91
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia * Yes12Free8512Free8512Free85
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba * No76Not1476Not1476Not13
Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus * Yes11Free9411Free9411Free94
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic * Yes11Free9111Free9111Free91
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark * Yes11Free9711Free9711Free97
Flag of Djibouti.svg  Djibouti * No65Not2675Not2475Not24
Flag of Dominica.svg  Dominica Yes11Free9311Free9311Free93
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic * Yes33Partly6733Partly6733Partly67
Flag of East Timor.svg  Timor-Leste * Yes23Free7023Free7123Free72
Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador * Yes33Partly6333Partly6533Partly67
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt * No66Not2266Not2166Not18
Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador * Yes23Free6724Partly6624Partly63
Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg  Equatorial Guinea * No77Not677Not677Not5
Flag of Eritrea.svg  Eritrea * No77Not277Not277Not2
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia * Yes11Free9411Free9411Free94
Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia * No66Not1966Not2466Not22
Flag of Eswatini.svg  Eswatini * No76Not1675Not1975Not19
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji * Yes33Partly6133Partly6033Partly60
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland * Yes11Free10011Free10011Free100
Flag of France.svg  France * Yes12Free9012Free9012Free90
Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon * No75Not2375Not2275Not22
Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia No45Partly4544Partly4644Partly46
Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia * Yes33Partly6333Partly6143Partly60
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany * Yes11Free9411Free9411Free94
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana * Yes12Free8322Free8222Free82
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece * Yes12Free8712Free8812Free87
Flag of Grenada.svg  Grenada * Yes12Free8912Free8912Free89
Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala * No44Partly5344Partly5244Partly52
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea * No54Partly4355Partly4055Partly38
Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg  Guinea-Bissau * No54Partly4254Partly4654Partly44
Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana * Yes23Free7523Free7423Free73
Flag of Haiti.svg  Haiti * No55Partly4155Partly3855Partly37
Flag of Honduras (2022-).svg  Honduras * No44Partly4644Partly4545Partly44
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary * Yes33Partly7033Partly7033Partly69
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland * Yes11Free9411Free9411Free94
Flag of India.svg  India * Yes23Free7523Free7124Partly67
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia * No24Partly6224Partly6124Partly59
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran * No66Not1866Not1766Not16
Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq * No56Not3256Not3156Not29
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland * Yes11Free9711Free9711Free97
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel * Yes23Free7823Free7623Free76
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy * Yes11Free8911Free8911Free90
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast * No44Partly5144Partly5154Partly44
Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica * Yes22Free7822Free7822Free80
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan * Yes11Free9611Free9611Free96
Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan * No55Partly3755Partly3765Not34
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan * No75Not75Not2375Not23
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya * No44Partly4844Partly4844Partly48
Flag of Kiribati.svg  Kiribati * Yes11Free9311Free9311Free93
Flag of Kosovo.svg  Kosovo * Yes34Partly5434Partly5644Partly54
Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait * No55Partly3655Partly3655Partly37
Flag of Kyrgyzstan.svg  Kyrgyzstan * No54Partly3854Partly3975Not28
Flag of Laos.svg  Laos * No76Not1476Not1476Not13
Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia * Yes22Free8712Free8912Free89
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon * No54Partly4554Partly4454Partly43
Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho * Yes33Partly6333Partly6333Partly63
Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia * Yes33Partly6234Partly6034Partly60
Flag of Libya.svg  Libya * No76Not976Not976Not9
Flag of Liechtenstein.svg  Liechtenstein * Yes21Free9021Free9021Free90
Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania * Yes11Free9111Free9112Free90
Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg Yes11Free9811Free9811Free97
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar * Yes34Partly5633Partly6134Partly60
Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi * Yes33Partly6433Partly6233Partly66
Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia * No44Partly5244Partly5244Partly51
Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives * No55Partly3545Partly4045Partly40
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali * No44Partly4455Partly4165Not33
Flag of Malta.svg  Malta * Yes21Free9121Free9021Free90
Flag of the Marshall Islands.svg  Marshall Islands * Yes11Free9311Free9311Free93
Flag of Mauritania.svg  Mauritania * No65Not3255Partly3455Partly35
Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius * Yes12Free8912Free8912Free87
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico * Yes33Partly6333Partly6234Partly61
Flag of the Federated States of Micronesia.svg  Micronesia * Yes11Free9211Free9211Free92
Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova * Yes34Partly5834Partly6033Partly61
Flag of Monaco.svg  Monaco * Yes31Free8231Free8331Free83
Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia * Yes12Free8512Free8412Free84
Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro Yes43Partly6543Partly6233Partly63
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco * No55Partly3955Partly3755Partly37
Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique * No44Partly5154Partly4554Partly43
Flag of Myanmar.svg  Myanmar * No55Partly3056Not3056Not28
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia * Yes32Free7522Free7722Free77
Flag of Nauru.svg  Nauru * Yes22Free7823Free7723Free77
Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal * Yes34Partly5434Partly5634Partly56
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands * Yes11Free9911Free9911Free98
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand * Yes11Free9811Free9711Free99
Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua * No65Not3265Not3165Not30
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger * No44Partly4944Partly4844Partly48
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria * No35Partly5045Partly4745Partly45
Flag of North Korea.svg  North Korea * No77Not377Not377Not3
Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia * Yes43Partly5933Partly6333Partly66
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway * Yes11Free10011Free10011Free100
Flag of Oman.svg  Oman * No65Not2365Not2365Not23
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan * No55Partly3955Partly3855Partly37
Flag of Palau.svg  Palau * Yes11Free9211Free9211Free92
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama * Yes12Free8412Free8422Free83
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea * Yes43Partly6443Partly6243Partly62
Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay * Yes33Partly6533Partly6533Partly65
Flag of Peru.svg  Peru * Yes23Free7323Free7233Partly71
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines * Yes33Partly6134Partly5934Partly56
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland * Yes22Free8422Free8422Free82
Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Portugal * Yes11Free9611Free9611Free96
Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar * No65Not2565Not2565Not25
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania * Yes22Free8122Free8322Free83
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia * No76Not2076Not2076Not20
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda * No66Not2366Not2266Not21
Flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis.svg  Saint Kitts and Nevis Yes11Free8911Free8921Free89
Flag of Saint Lucia.svg  Saint Lucia Yes11Free9211Free9211Free91
Flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.svg  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines * Yes11Free9111Free9111Free91
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa * Yes22Free8122Free8122Free81
Flag of San Marino.svg  San Marino Yes11Free9511Free9511Free93
Flag of Sao Tome and Principe.svg  São Tomé and Príncipe * Yes22Free8322Free8422Free84
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia * No77Not777Not777Not7
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal * Yes23Free7233Partly7133Partly71
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia * Yes33Partly6743Partly6643Partly64
Flag of Seychelles.svg  Seychelles Yes33Partly7133Partly7223Free77
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone * Yes33Partly6533Partly6533Partly65
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore * No44Partly5144Partly5044Partly48
Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia * Yes12Free8812Free8811Free90
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia Yes11Free9411Free9411Free95
Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg  Solomon Islands * Yes22Free7922Free7922Free79
Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia * No77Not777Not777Not7
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa * Yes22Free7922Free7922Free79
Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea * Yes22Free8322Free8322Free83
Flag of South Sudan.svg  South Sudan * No77Not277Not277Not2
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain * Yes11Free9411Free9211Free90
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka * Yes34Partly5644Partly5644Partly56
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan * No77Not776Not1276Not17
Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname * Yes23Free7723Free7522Free79
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden * Yes11Free10011Free10011Free100
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland * Yes11Free9611Free9611Free96
Flag of Syria (2025-).svg  Syria * No77Not077Not077Not177Not177Not1
Flag of Tajikistan.svg  Tajikistan * No76Not976Not976Not876Not876Not7
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania * No45Partly4555Partly4055Partly3455Partly3455Partly36
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand * No75Not3064Partly3275Not3075Not2965Not30
Flag of Togo (3-2).svg  Togo * No54Partly4354Partly4454Partly4354Partly4254Partly42
Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga * Yes22Free7922Free7922Free7922Free7922Free81
Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago * Yes22Free8222Free8222Free82
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia * Yes23Free6923Free7023Free71
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey * No56Not3156Not3256Not32
Flag of Turkmenistan.svg  Turkmenistan * No77Not277Not277Not2
Flag of Tuvalu.svg  Tuvalu * Yes11Free9311Free9311Free93
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda * No65Not3665Not3465Not34
Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine * No34Partly6033Partly6234Partly60
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates * No76Not1776Not1776Not17
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom * Yes11Free9311Free9411Free93
Flag of the United States.svg  United States * Yes21Free8621Free8622Free83
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay * Yes11Free11Free9811Free98
Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan * No76Not76Not1076Not11
Flag of Vanuatu.svg  Vanuatu * Yes22Free8222Free8222Free82
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela * No76Not1976Not1676Not14
Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam * No75Not2075Not2076Not19
Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen * No76Not1176Not1176Not11
Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia * No44Partly5444Partly5444Partly52
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe * No55Partly3155Partly2965Not28

Territories and countries with limited recognition

Territory (2025)
TotalPRCLOverall
status
Abkhazia 391722Partly free
Gaza Strip 2-24Not free
Hong Kong 40931Partly free
Indian Kashmir 381721Partly free
Northern Cyprus 762749Free
Pakistani Kashmir 30921Not free
Russian-occupied Ukraine 2-13Not free
Somaliland 472126Partly free
South Ossetia 1239Not free
Taiwan 943856Free
Tibet 0-22Not free
Transnistria 17512Not free
West Bank 22418Not free
Western Sahara 4-37Not free
Country2014201520162017201820202021 [14]
PRCLOverall
status
PRCLOverall
status
PRCLOverall
status
PRCLOverall
status
PRCLOverall
status
PRCLOverall
status
PtsPRCLOverall
status
Pts
Flag of the Republic of Abkhazia.svg  Abkhazia * 45Partly45Partly45Partly45Partly45Partly1723Partly401723Partly40
Flag of Crimea (Latest version).svg  Crimea (disputed)43Partly76Not76Not76Not76Not-210Not8-29Not7
Donetsk PR and Luhansk PR (disputed)-16Not5-15Not4
Gaza Strip (Palestine)76Not76Not76Not76Not76Not38Not1138Not11
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong * (China)52Partly52Partly52Partly52Partly52Partly1639Partly551537Partly52
Indian Kashmir (India)44Partly44Partly44Partly44Partly44Partly820Not28720Not27
Azad Kashmir (Pakistan)65Not65Not65Not65Not65Not919Not28919Not28
Flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.svg  Northern Cyprus * 22Free22Free22Free22Free22Free3150Free812850Free78
Flag of Puerto Rico.svg  Puerto Rico (United States)*12Free12Free11Free [15]
Flag of Somaliland.svg  Somaliland * 45Partly45Partly55Partly55Partly45Partly1724Partly411824Partly42
Flag of South Ossetia.svg  South Ossetia * 76Not76Not76Not76Not76Not28Not1028Not10
Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan * 11Free9311Free94
Tibet (China)77Not77Not77Not77Not77Not-23Not1-23Not1
Flag of Transnistria (state).svg  Transnistria * 66Not66Not66Not66Not66Not913Not22812Not20
West Bank (Palestine)65Not65Not65Not75Not75Not421Not25421Not25
Flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.svg  Western Sahara * 77Not77Not77Not77Not77Not-37Not4-37Not4

Former entries

Former entries from Freedom in the World. Most are territories added in the 1978 report for 1977 and received their last coverage in the 2000 report of the same year. Other territories with differing dates are noted below. Their placements are based on their final rankings before ceasing coverage.

Free

Partly Free

Not Free

Evaluation

There is some debate over the neutrality of Freedom House and the methodology used for the Freedom in the World report, which has been written by Raymond Gastil and his colleagues. [3] The neutrality and biases of human-rights indices have been discussed in several publications by Kenneth A. Bollen. [16] Bollen wrote that "Considered together these criticisms suggest that some nations may have been incorrectly rated on Gastil's measures. However, none of the criticisms have demonstrated a systematic bias in all the ratings. Most of the evidence consists of anecdotal evidence of relatively few cases. Whether there is a systematic or sporadic slant in Gastil's ratings is an open question" (Bollen, 1986, p. 586). [3] The freedom index of Freedom in the World has a very strong and positive (at least an 80%) correlation with three other democracy-indices studied in Mainwaring (2001, p. 53). [17]

Ideological bias or neutrality

In his 1986 study, Bollen discussed reviews of measurements of human rights, including the index reported in Freedom in the World (Bollen, 1986, p. 585). Criticisms of Freedom in the World during the 1980s were discussed by Gastil (1990), who stated that "generally such criticism is based on opinions about Freedom House rather than detailed examination of survey ratings", a conclusion disputed by Giannone. [18] The definition of Freedom in Gastil (1982) and Freedom House (1990) emphasized liberties rather than the exercise of freedom, according to Adam Przeworski, who gave the following example: In the United States, citizens are free to form political parties and to vote, yet even in presidential elections only half of U.S. "citizens" vote; in the U.S., "the same two parties speak in a commercially sponsored unison", wrote Przeworski (2003 , p. 277). [5]

More recent charges of ideological bias prompted Freedom House to issue this 2010 statement:

Freedom House does not maintain a culture-bound view of freedom. The methodology of the survey is grounded in basic standards of political rights and civil liberties, derived in large measure from relevant portions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These standards apply to all countries and territories, irrespective of geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, or level of economic development. [10]

Mainwaring et alia (2001, p. 52) [17] wrote that Freedom House's index had "two systematic biases: scores for leftist were tainted by political considerations, and changes in scores are sometimes driven by changes in their criteria rather than changes in real conditions." Nonetheless, when evaluated in Latin American countries yearly, Freedom House's index was very strongly and positively correlated with the index of Adam Przeworski and with the index of the authors themselves: They evaluated Pearson's coefficient of linear correlation between their index and Freedom House's index, which was 0.82; among these indices and the two others studied, the correlations were all between 0.80 and 0.86 (Mainwaring et alia, 2001, p. 53). [17]

As previously quoted, Bollen criticized previous studies of Freedom in the World as anecdotal and inconclusive; they raised issues needing further study by scientific methods rather than anecdotes. [3] Bollen studied the question of ideological bias using multivariate statistics. Using their factor-analytic model for human-rights measurements, Bollen and Paxton estimate that Gastil's method produces a bias of -0.38  standard deviations  (s.d.) against Marxist–Leninist countries and a larger bias, +0.5 s.d., favoring Christian countries; similar results held for the methodology of Sussman (Bollen and Paxton, 2000, p. 585). [19] In contrast, another method by a critic of Freedom in the World produced a bias for Leftist countries during the 1980s of at least +0.8 s.d., a bias that is "consistent with the general finding that political scientists are more favorable to leftist politics than is the general population" (Bollen and Paxton, p. 585). [19]

Coder bias

Political scientists Andrew T. Little and Anne Meng argued that the data produced by Freedom House and the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project relies heavily on subjective, as opposed to objective, measures and thus are tainted by coder bias. [20]

Use and conceptual analysis

Criticisms of the reception and uses of the Freedom in the World report have been noted by Diego Giannone: [21] [ unreliable source? ]

Time series

In "Political and ideological aspects in the measurement of democracy: the Freedom House case" (2010) which reviewed changes to the methodology since 1990, Diego Giannone concluded that "because of the changes in methodology over time and the strict interconnection between methodological and political aspects, the FH data do not offer an unbroken and politically neutral time series, such that they should not be used for cross-time analyses even for the development of first hypotheses. The internal consistency of the data series is open to question." [27]

On this topic, the Freedom House website replies that they have "made a number of modest methodological changes to adapt to evolving ideas about political rights and civil liberties. At the same time, the time series data are not revised retroactively, and any changes to the methodology are introduced incrementally in order to ensure the comparability of the ratings from year to year." [10]

See also

Notes

  1. Gorokhovskaia, Yana; Shahbaz, Adrian; Slipowitz, Amy (9 March 2023). "Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy". Freedom House. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  2. William Ide (11 January 2000). "Freedom House Report: Asia Sees Some Significant Progress". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Bollen, K.A., "Political Rights and Political Liberties in Nations: An Evaluation of Human Rights Measures, 1950 to 1984", Human Rights Quarterly, vol. 8, no. 4 (November 1986), pp.567–591. Also in: Jabine, T.B. and Pierre Claude, R. (Eds.), Human Rights and Statistics, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992, pp. 188–215, ISBN   0-8122-3108-2.
  4. “Correlation Versus Interchangeability: the Limited Robustness of Empirical Finding on Democracy Using Highly Correlated Data Sets" Archived 20 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine , Gretchen Casper and Claudiu Tufis, Political Analysis, 11:2 (2003), pp. 196–203, Society for Political Methodology
  5. 1 2 Przeworski, Adam (2003). "Freedom to choose and democracy". Economics and Philosophy. 19 (2): 265–279. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.570.736 . doi:10.1017/S0266267103001159. S2CID   38812895.
  6. List of Electoral Democracies FIW23 (.XLSX), by Freedom House
  7. "Freedom in the World 2019" (PDF). Freedom House. 5 February 2019. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  8. "Freedom in the World 2020" (PDF). Freedom House. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  9. "Freedom in the World 2021" (PDF). Freedom House. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Freedom in the World 2010: Methodology" Archived 23 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine , Freedom in the World 2010, Freedom house
  11. "Methodology: Freedom in the World 2018". freedomhouse.org. 13 January 2018. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  12. List of Electoral Democracies, FIW 2025 (Excel Download), Freedom In the World, List of Electoral Democracies, FIW 2025 (Excel Download), Freedom House.
  13. 1 2 All Data, FIW 2013-2024 (Excel Download), Freedom In the World, All Data, 2013-2024 (Excel Download), Freedom House.
  14. "Countries and Territories". Freedom House. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  15. Puerto Rico *. Retrieved from https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2016/puerto-rico Archived 18 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  16. Bollen has held chairs as a Distinguished Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Howard W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). Also serving as an Adjunct Professor of Statistics at UNC-CH, Bollen wrote the leading graduate textbook in structural equation models (SEM), often called LISREL models; SEM modeling allows the summary of a large number of measurements using a small number of meaningful factors. SEM was used by Bollen in the studies reported hereafter.
  17. 1 2 3 Mainwaring, S.; Brinks, D.; Pérez-Liñán, A.B. (2001). "Classifying Political Regimes in Latin". Studies in Comparative International Development. 36 (1): 37–65. doi:10.1007/BF02687584. S2CID   155047996.
  18. Gastil, R.D. (1990). "The Comparative Survey of Freedom: Experiences and Suggestions". Studies in Comparative International Development. 25 (1): 25–50. doi:10.1007/BF02716904. S2CID   144099626.
  19. 1 2 Bollen, Kenneth A. and Paxton, Pamela, "Subjective Measures of Liberal Democracy", Comparative Political Studies, vol. 33, no. 1 (February 2000), pp. 58–86
  20. Andrew Little and Anne Meng,“Measuring Democratic Backsliding.“ PS: Political Science & Politics (forthcoming). https://osf.io/n32zk/
  21. Giannone, Diego, "Political and ideological aspects in the measurement of democracy: the Freedom House case", Democratization, vol. 17, no. 1 (February 2010), pp. 68–97.
  22. "Concept Misformation in Comparative Politics." The American Political Science Review 64 (4): 1033–1053.
  23. Giannone (2010), p. 69. Quoting Landman, Tod, and Julia Hausermann, indicators/GovIndicatorsEssex2003.pdf Map-Making and Analysis of the Main International Initiatives on Developing Indicators on Democracy and Good Governance [ dead link ], Final Report, University of Essex – Human Rights Centre, July 2003, 98 pp.
  24. Scoble, Harry and Laurie Wiseberg, Ved Nanda, Ved, James Scarritt, and George Shepherd (eds) (1981), "Problems of Comparative Research in Human Rights", Global Human Rights: Public Policies, Comparative Measures and NGO Strategies, pp. 147–171, Westview Press, Boulder, CO, ISBN   978-0-89158-858-0. Cited in Giannone (2010), p. 69.
  25. 1 2 Giannone (2010), p. 69, citing Scoble, et al. (1981) and Axel Hadenius and Jan Teorell. "Assessing Alternative Indices of Democracy", Political Concepts, Committee on Concepts and Methods, Working Paper Series, August 2005, 47 pp.
  26. Munck, Gerardo L. and Verkuilen, Jay, CPS 2002.pdf "Conceptualising and Measuring Democracy: Evaluating Alternative Indices" [ dead link ], Comparative Political Studies, vol. 35, no. 1 (February 2002), pp. 5–34. Cited in Giannone (2010), p. 69.
  27. Giannone (2010), p. 68.

References