Freedom in the World Frequently Asked Questions

What does Freedom in the World measure?

The survey measures political rights and civil liberties, or the opportunity for individuals to act spontaneously in a variety of fields outside the control of the government and other centers of potential domination. As such, the survey is primarily concerned with freedom from restrictions or impositions on individuals' life pursuits.

While the survey considers restrictions on freedom imposed by governments, it does not measure government performance per se. Rather, it measures the wider state of freedom in a country or territory, reflecting both governmental and non-governmental constraints.

Similarly, the survey does not explicitly measure democracy or democratic performance. Rather, it measures rights and freedoms integral to democratic institutions.

How does Freedom in the World measure freedom?

The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories that are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: political rights and civil liberties.

Each country and territory covered in the survey is assigned two numerical ratings-- one for political rights and one for civil liberties--on a scale of 1 to7; a rating of 1 indicates the highest degree of freedom and 7 the least amount of freedom. While these scales are logically distinct, in practice they are closely related: when one rating is low, the other tends to be as well, and vice versa.

These political rights and civil liberties ratings are combined and averaged to determine an overall "freedom status" for each country and territory. Countries and territories with a combined average rating of 1.0 to 2.5 are considered "Free"; 3.0 to 5.0, "Partly Free"; and 5.5 to 7.0 "Not Free".

How does Freedom in the World determine the political rights and civil liberties ratings?

The ratings are determined by a checklist of 25 questions, 10 addressing political rights and 15 addressing civil liberties. Each country or territory is awarded a raw score for each of the questions on a 0 to 4 scale, where 0 points represents the smallest degree and 4 points the greatest degree of rights or liberties present.

The 10 political rights questions (a total of 40 points) are grouped into three sub-categories:

• Electoral Process: 3 questions (a total of 12 points)
• Political Pluralism and Participation: 4 questions (16 points)
• Functioning of Government: 3 questions (12 points)

The 15 civil liberties questions (60 points) are grouped into four sub-categories:

• Freedom of Expression and Belief: 4 questions (16 points)
• Associational and Organizational Rights: 3 questions (12 points)
• Rule of Law: 4 questions (16 points)
• Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights: 4 questions (16 points)

The sum of each country and territory's sub-category scores for political rights translates to a rating on the aforementioned 1 to 7 scale; the same process is used to determine the civil liberties rating. (See Table 1 and Table 2 in the Freedom in the World 2006 methodology chapter.)

Who determines the country and territory scores and ratings?

Scores and ratings for each country and territory are proposed by an analyst (who also writes the narratives that accompany the ratings). These analysts are country or regional experts from the academic, media, think-tank, and human rights communities. Approximately one-third of these analysts are Freedom House staff members, while another two-thirds are outside consultants.

The proposed scores and ratings are vetted thoroughly--both individually and on a comparative basis--in a series of six regional meetings: Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Western Europe. The relevant analysts, two to three senior-level academic academic advisors with regional expertise, and the Freedom in the World editorial team attend each daylong meeting. 

For a more detailed description of the Freedom in the World methodology, please click here.