Freedom House has released the subcategory scores from Freedom in the World for the past seven years, as well as the aggregate scores from the previous 10 editions of the survey.
Freedom in the World is an annual comparative assessment of political rights and civil liberties that this year covers 195 countries and 14 related and disputed territories.
For the last 39 years of the survey, each country and territory has been assigned two numerical ratings—one for political rights and one for civil liberties—based on a 1 to 7 scale. Underlying those ratings are more detailed assessments of country situations based on a 40-point scale for political rights and a 60-point scale for civil liberties. Freedom House is releasing these aggregate scores for political rights and civil liberties for each country in order to provide more nuanced information about country trends beyond the 7-point rating scales used previously.
In addition, in order to generate debate and discussions within countries as to areas that are most in need of reform, Freedom House is releasing the ratings for the seven subcategories that compose assessments of what constitute political rights and civil liberties for the latest survey edition, Freedom in the World 2012. These subcategories, drawn from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, represent the fundamental components of freedom, which include an individual's ability to:
- Participate freely in the political process;
- Vote freely in legitimate elections;
- Have representatives that are accountable to them;
- Exercise freedoms of expression and belief;
- Be able to freely assemble and associate;
- Have access to an established and equitable system of rule of law;
- Enjoy social and economic freedoms, including equal access to economic opportunities and the right to hold private property.
We trust that this information will provide greater transparency and a better understanding of how Freedom House measures political rights and civil liberties.
For a more detailed description of the Freedom in the World methodology, please click here.