Compare political systems

Compare democracy
across countries.

Put three national trajectories side by side, then look beneath the headline score to see which democratic dimensions differ.

Score color 80–100 · closer 60–79.9 · incomplete Below 60 · constrained

SCORE HISTORY

1975–2025

BEHIND THE LINES

Different countries. Different changes.

Afghanistan

The score for Afghanistan fell 35.8 points, from 42.9 to 7.1 between 2015 and 2025. All five areas declined. Public reasoning contributed the largest downward push in the score calculation. The latest year moved in the opposite direction (+1.1), so the longer trend is not the whole story.

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United States

The score for United States fell 18.4 points, from 84.5 to 66.1 between 2015 and 2025. All five areas declined. Public reasoning contributed the largest downward push in the score calculation.

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Switzerland

The score for Switzerland fell 0.1 points, from 93.2 to 93.1 between 2015 and 2025. 3 of the five areas improved while 1 worsened, so the headline combines competing movements. Elections contributed the largest downward push in the score calculation.

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These summaries identify changes inside the scoring model, not proven political causes. Country profiles add dated, source-linked context.

2025 DIMENSIONS

0–100
Free and fair elections
6.9
73.5
88.2
Rights and checks on power
5.5
75.4
96.9
Public participation
18.4
64.5
88.2
Public reasoning
3.3
60.6
98.4
Political equality
4.8
57.4
93.9

Scores are estimates of political systems in a specific year, not judgments about a country’s people or culture.

Comparison without false equivalence

The same measurement model is applied to each place and year, but historical context, state formation, conflict, and data uncertainty differ. Use these lines to find questions—not to substitute a number for country knowledge.