Progress Toward Democracy
Notes:
Progress Toward Democracy
In 1974, only 39 countries (about 25 percent) were independent democracies; today, 117 countries are (about 60 percent). For more information see http://www.wri.org/trends/migratio.html.
Note: This particular index of democracy is based on Polity III data developed by Keith Jaggers and Ted Robert Gurr. It is calculated for 177 countries from scores on five component indicators: (1) competitiveness of political participation, (2) regulation of political participation, (3) competitiveness of executive recruitment, (4) openness of executive recruitment, and (5) constraints on the chief executive. For more information, see Keith Jaggers and Ted Robert Gurr, “Tracking Democracy’s Third Wave with the Polity III Data,” Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 32, No. 4 (1995), pp. 469-482.