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Country Rankings

Who's the Fairest of Them All?

Spoiler alert: it's not us. The United States didn't even make the top 20. The table below ranks 138 countries across multiple global indexes that measure corruption, democracy, rule of law, government effectiveness, and individual freedom. Depending on who's counting, there are between 193 and 237 countries in the world. Countries that were missing from more than two indexes were removed. The ranking is based on total score, but you can sort by country name or any individual index.

A few things to know before you scroll:

  • Government Type is based on where governing power originates — not what the country calls itself. [Learn more here.]
  • Democracy Status comes from the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index. Full democracy means the system is functioning as designed. Flawed democracy means the country holds elections and calls itself a democracy, but institutions have significant weaknesses. Hybrid regime means democratic elements exist alongside authoritarian ones. Authoritarian regime means it's not a democracy regardless of what it claims.
  • Lower Legislature Representation describes how legislators are elected. Proportional — seats are allocated based on vote share — is what Amendment No. 1 proposes, and it's the most common system worldwide. Single-winner — one candidate wins per district — is what the United States currently uses. MMP (mixed-member proportional) uses both.
  • Political Parties is the number of parties with seats in the lower legislature. For context, the United States has two.
  • Density is people per square kilometer of land. It's included to help put each country's scale and resource pressure in perspective.
Rank Country Total Score Chandler Good Government 2025 Corruption Perception 2025 Human Freedom Index 2025 Rule of Law Index 2025 Democracy Index 2024 Type of Government Democracy Status Lower Legislation Representation Political Parties Population Density (P/Km²)
92 Morocco 0.475 0.466 39 5.44 0.48 4.97 Autocracy Hybrid regime Proportional Multi 38,430,770 86
91 Côte d'Ivoire 0.475 0.415 43 6.67 0.44 4.22 Democracy Hybrid regime Single Winner Multi 32,711,547 103
93 Saudi Arabia 0.474 0.620 57 4.97 2.08 Autocracy Authoritarian regime N/A N/A 34,566,328 16
94 Mexico 0.471 0.483 27 6.72 0.40 5.32 Democracy Hybrid regime MMP Multi 131,946,900 68
96 Tunisia 0.465 0.406 39 5.69 0.49 4.71 Democracy Hybrid regime Proportional Multi 12,348,573 79
95 Kenya 0.465 0.411 30 6.59 0.45 5.05 Democracy Hybrid regime Single Winner Multi 57,532,493 101
97 El Salvador 0.461 0.416 32 6.88 0.42 4.61 Democracy Hybrid regime Proportional Multi 6,365,503 307
98 Vietnam 0.454 0.567 41 5.29 0.50 2.62 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Single Winner One-Party Dominant 101,598,527 328
99 Guatemala 0.452 0.400 26 7.07 0.44 4.55 Democracy Hybrid regime Proportional Multi 18,687,881 174
100 Madagascar 0.448 0.346 25 6.80 0.43 5.33 Democracy Hybrid regime MMP Multi 32,740,678 56
101 China 0.445 0.612 43 4.93 0.48 2.11 Autocracy Authoritarian regime N/A N/A 1,416,096,094 151
102 Honduras 0.443 0.386 22 6.99 0.41 4.98 Democracy Hybrid regime Proportional Multi 11,005,850 98
103 Turkey 0.426 0.472 31 5.10 0.41 4.26 Autocracy Hybrid regime Proportional Multi 87,685,426 114
104 Sierra Leone 0.424 0.272 34 6.34 0.44 4.32 Democracy Hybrid regime Single Winner Multi 8,819,794 122
105 Togo 0.419 32 6.25 0.43 2.99 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Proportional One-Party Dominant 9,721,608 179
106 Bolivia 0.417 0.329 28 6.81 0.37 4.26 Democracy Hybrid regime MMP Multi 12,581,843 12
107 Uganda 0.414 0.398 25 5.91 0.38 4.49 Autocracy Hybrid regime Single Winner One-Party Dominant 51,384,894 257
108 Burkina Faso 0.413 0.329 40 6.29 0.45 2.55 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Proportional N/A 24,074,580 88
109 Algeria 0.410 0.415 34 4.50 0.49 3.55 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Proportional Multi 47,435,312 20
110 Angola 0.405 0.285 32 5.96 0.42 4.05 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Proportional Multi 39,040,039 31
111 Bangladesh 0.405 0.408 24 5.44 0.39 4.44 Democracy Hybrid regime Single Winner Multi 175,686,899 1350
112 Mauritania 0.403 30 5.54 0.36 3.96 Autocracy Authoritarian regime MMP One-Party Dominant 5,315,065 5
113 Niger 0.401 31 6.47 0.42 2.26 Autocracy Authoritarian regime N/A N/A 27,917,831 22
114 Nigeria 0.389 0.289 26 5.69 0.41 4.16 Democracy Hybrid regime Single Winner Multi 237,527,782 261
115 Gabon 0.385 29 6.31 0.40 2.18 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Single Winner One-Party Dominant 2,593,130 10
116 Lebanon 0.379 0.290 22 5.91 0.44 3.56 Democracy Authoritarian regime Proportional Multi 5,849,421 572
117 Mozambique 0.379 0.326 21 6.52 0.37 3.38 Democracy Authoritarian regime Proportional Multi 35,631,653 45
118 Ethiopia 0.375 0.343 38 4.70 0.36 3.24 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Single Winner Multi 135,472,051 135
119 Cambodia 0.371 0.437 20 6.13 0.31 2.94 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Proportional One-Party Dominant 17,847,982 101
120 Belarus 0.367 31 5.20 0.44 1.99 Autocracy Authoritarian regime Single Winner One-Party Dominant 8,997,603 44