DEMOCRACYS.ORG / COUNTRY BRIEF
El Salvador
Institutions and political conditions · 2025
#153of 179 places
−31.7points since 2015
18.0–32.2source-bound score area*
What the score says
El Salvador scores 25.7 on the Democracys Standard. Its score was 57.4 in 2015, a fall of 31.7 points. The lowest-scoring dimension in 2025 is rights and checks on power (14.1).
What drove the change?
The score for El Salvador fell 31.7 points, from 57.4 to 25.7 between 2015 and 2025. All five areas declined. Rights and checks contributed the largest downward push in the score calculation.
This explains movement within the formula, not the causal effect of political events.
2025 context · Freedom House assessment
Constitutional changes removed presidential term limits
Lawmakers used a revised amendment procedure to abolish presidential term limits. Freedom House also describes increasing pressure on independent journalists. The combination concerns both limits on executive tenure and the availability of independent scrutiny; electoral popularity does not by itself answer either institutional question.
Read the country report · Freedom in the World 2026AI-assisted source summary · not independently expert-reviewed
What this context does—and does not—explain
This is a selected development, not a complete political history. Its date may differ from the selected comparison period. It is not evidence that one event caused a particular number of points, and it may describe progress even when this index declines.
The scores use V-Dem. The narrative summarizes a separate assessment by Freedom House, whose definitions and coverage differ. Neither organization endorses this website. The summary is AI-assisted, source-linked, and has not received independent country-expert review. Source checked October 5, 2026.
Why democracy measures can disagree →Look beneath the headline
| Democracy test | 2025 | Since 2015 |
|---|---|---|
| Free and fair elections | 32.1 | −33.7 |
| Rights and checks on power | 14.1 | −51.4 |
| Public participation | 35.0 | −20.4 |
| Public reasoning | 25.4 | −40.9 |
| Political equality | 24.6 | −12.5 |
Dimension movements are not additive contributions to the overall score. The method also accounts for weak areas.
Three questions worth investigating
- Are basic freedoms protected, laws applied fairly, courts independent, and leaders prevented from abusing power?
- Which documented changes in laws, institutions, or their implementation occurred during the period?
- What evidence challenges your explanation, and whose experience is missing?
Use primary records and country expertise. A change in an estimate alone does not identify its cause.
Read with care
This is an independent educational beta, not a V-Dem endorsement. Scores are not percentages of democracy or judgments about a people. Small differences may be within uncertainty. *The score area is obtained from source bounds; it is not a formal confidence interval for this composite or its change.