Compare political systems
Put three national trajectories side by side, then look beneath the headline score to see which democratic dimensions differ.
2025 score
73.8out of 1002025 score
66.1out of 1002025 score
93.1out of 100SCORE HISTORY
1975–2025BEHIND THE LINES
The score for South Africa rose 0.3 points, from 73.5 to 73.8 between 2015 and 2025. 2 of the five areas improved while 3 worsened, so the headline combines competing movements. Public reasoning contributed the largest upward push in the score calculation.
Read the political context →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.
Read the political context →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.
Read the political context →These summaries identify changes inside the scoring model, not proven political causes. Country profiles add dated, source-linked context.
2025 DIMENSIONS
0–100Scores are estimates of political systems in a specific year, not judgments about a country’s people or culture.
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.