International IDEA launches version 6 of the Global State of Democracy Indices

International IDEA is proud to announce the release of the 6th edition of the Global State of Democracy Indices. This year’s update sees the addition of eight new countries, increasing the total coverage to 173 countries with data stretching from 1975 to 2021 on 116 indicators of democratic performance at the global, regional and national levels.

Democracy is under threat as autocrats across the world try to seize power from citizens, either by military means or from within the democratic system. Last year saw the military coup in Myanmar put an end to a decade of democratic progress, violations of the rule of law in Brazil undermine democratic accountability, and democratic backsliding occur in El Salvador and the United States. While the situation can seem dire in many countries, democracy has also proven itself resilient to authoritarian threats. Armenia managed to avert an attempted military coup in February, Honduras rejoined democratic ranks after a successful 2021 presidential election, and the Gambia continues to improve following President Barrow’s election victory in 2016.

The Global State of Democracy Indices enable policymakers, journalists, academics and citizens to assess the impact of the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic on democracy at the global, regional and national levels. How has gender equality progressed in West Africa? What is the trend in judicial independence in South America? What is the state of media integrity in Myanmar? The dataset provides answers to these questions and more.

Explore the data with interactive tools here: GSoD Indices

Download the latest version of the dataset here: Data Resources