Data for 2009
Deliberative Democracy Index, 2009
2009, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten
V-Dem's Deliberative Democracy Index asks how political decisions are reached: whether leaders justify their positions with public reasons about the common good, respect opposing arguments, and consult a wide range of people before acting — on top of genuine elections. It runs from 0 to 1, and a higher figure is more democratic.
Deliberative Democracy Index, 2009 covers 175 countries. Sweden is highest, at 0.880; North Korea is lowest, at 0.008. The middle country reads 0.381. Against 2008, 132 values changed (70 up, 62 down), the same countries are covered.
Deliberative Democracy Index · Data for 2009
HighestSweden
0.880LowestNorth Korea
0.008Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.
01Position · derived
The table
Every country and every column of Deliberative Democracy Index, 2009, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.
Showing 25 of 175 countries · select a heading to sort
| derived | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SWENorthern Europe | 0.880 |
| 2 | DNKNorthern Europe | 0.877 |
| 3 | NORNorthern Europe | 0.872 |
| 4 | DEUWestern Europe | 0.870 |
| 5 | USANorthern America | 0.863 |
| 6 | CHEWestern Europe | 0.862 |
| 7 | CRICentral America | 0.859 |
| 8 | URYSouth America | 0.846 |
| 9 | FINNorthern Europe | 0.834 |
| 10 | AUSAustralia and New Zealand | 0.823 |
| 11 | PRTSouthern Europe | 0.822 |
| 12 | FRAWestern Europe | 0.821 |
| 13 | CHLSouth America | 0.815 |
| 14 | LUXWestern Europe | 0.814 |
| 15 | BELWestern Europe | 0.811 |
| =16 | BRASouth America | 0.802 |
| =16 | ESPSouthern Europe | 0.802 |
| 18 | ITASouthern Europe | 0.799 |
| 19 | CZEEastern Europe | 0.796 |
| 20 | AUTWestern Europe | 0.794 |
| 21 | NLDWestern Europe | 0.793 |
| 22 | GRCSouthern Europe | 0.787 |
| 23 | SVNSouthern Europe | 0.780 |
| 24 | ESTNorthern Europe | 0.772 |
| 25 | NZLAustralia and New Zealand | 0.770 |
| 26 | ISLNorthern Europe | 0.768 |
| 27 | JPNEastern Asia | 0.758 |
| 28 | GBRNorthern Europe | 0.756 |
| 29 | POLEastern Europe | 0.748 |
| 30 | IRLNorthern Europe | 0.743 |
| 31 | LTUNorthern Europe | 0.733 |
| 32 | CYPWestern Asia | 0.728 |
| 33 | CANNorthern America | 0.699 |
| 34 | BRBCaribbean | 0.689 |
| 35 | MLTSouthern Europe | 0.688 |
| 36 | GHAWestern Africa | 0.685 |
| 37 | MUSEastern Africa | 0.678 |
| 38 | ZAFSouthern Africa | 0.672 |
| =39 | SVKEastern Europe | 0.664 |
| =39 | TWNEastern Asia | 0.664 |
| 41 | CPVWestern Africa | 0.660 |
| 42 | TTOCaribbean | 0.655 |
| 43 | PANCentral America | 0.647 |
| 44 | LVANorthern Europe | 0.646 |
| 45 | PERSouth America | 0.644 |
| 46 | JAMCaribbean | 0.634 |
| 47 | KOREastern Asia | 0.630 |
| 48 | IDNSouth-eastern Asia | 0.623 |
| 49 | INDSouthern Asia | 0.622 |
| 50 | HUNEastern Europe | 0.621 |
| 51 | ISRWestern Asia | 0.617 |
| 52 | SURSouth America | 0.608 |
| 53 | LBRWestern Africa | 0.599 |
| =54 | MNGEastern Asia | 0.578 |
| =54 | SENWestern Africa | 0.578 |
| =54 | VUTMelanesia | 0.578 |
| 57 | BENWestern Africa | 0.571 |
| =58 | BWASouthern Africa | 0.569 |
| =58 | BGREastern Europe | 0.569 |
| 60 | ARGSouth America | 0.559 |
| 61 | HRVSouthern Europe | 0.556 |
| 62 | BOLSouth America | 0.553 |
| 63 | MEXCentral America | 0.534 |
| 64 | NAMSouthern Africa | 0.519 |
| 65 | SRBSouthern Europe | 0.512 |
| 66 | MLIWestern Africa | 0.496 |
| 67 | DOMCaribbean | 0.492 |
| 68 | BTNSouthern Asia | 0.489 |
| 69 | MDVSouthern Asia | 0.477 |
| 70 | UKREastern Europe | 0.474 |
| 71 | NPLSouthern Asia | 0.464 |
| 72 | PRYSouth America | 0.448 |
| 73 | ROUEastern Europe | 0.447 |
| 74 | SLVCentral America | 0.444 |
| 75 | ZMBEastern Africa | 0.443 |
| 76 | ECUSouth America | 0.435 |
| 77 | BFAWestern Africa | 0.431 |
| 78 | STPMiddle Africa | 0.428 |
| 79 | TLSSouth-eastern Asia | 0.419 |
| =80 | MWIEastern Africa | 0.418 |
| =80 | MNESouthern Europe | 0.418 |
| =82 | ALBSouthern Europe | 0.404 |
| =82 | PHLSouth-eastern Asia | 0.404 |
| 84 | BIHSouthern Europe | 0.394 |
| 85 | GTMCentral America | 0.392 |
| 86 | SLEWestern Africa | 0.388 |
| 87 | COLSouth America | 0.382 |
| 88 | KENEastern Africa | 0.381 |
| 89 | TZAEastern Africa | 0.377 |
| 90 | TURWestern Asia | 0.371 |
| 91 | LBNWestern Asia | 0.368 |
| 92 | SLBMelanesia | 0.363 |
| 93 | NERWestern Africa | 0.362 |
| 94 | CIVWestern Africa | 0.360 |
| 95 | TGOWestern Africa | 0.359 |
| =96 | LSOSouthern Africa | 0.357 |
| =96 | THASouth-eastern Asia | 0.357 |
| 98 | SYCEastern Africa | 0.350 |
| 99 | HKGEastern Asia | 0.341 |
| 100 | NGAWestern Africa | 0.339 |
| 101 | GEOWestern Asia | 0.335 |
| 102 | IRQWestern Asia | 0.333 |
| 103 | GUYSouth America | 0.330 |
| 104 | MOZEastern Africa | 0.327 |
| 105 | MKDSouthern Europe | 0.326 |
| 106 | GABMiddle Africa | 0.318 |
| 107 | SGPSouth-eastern Asia | 0.316 |
| 108 | HTICaribbean | 0.314 |
| =109 | MDAEastern Europe | 0.313 |
| =109 | NICCentral America | 0.313 |
| 111 | KWTWestern Asia | 0.307 |
| 112 | PAKSouthern Asia | 0.303 |
| 113 | XKXSouthern Europe | 0.299 |
| 114 | PNGMelanesia | 0.296 |
| 115 | COMEastern Africa | 0.290 |
| 116 | AFGSouthern Asia | 0.287 |
| 117 | UGAEastern Africa | 0.273 |
| 118 | SomalilandXSLEastern Africa | 0.269 |
| 119 | BDIEastern Africa | 0.268 |
| 120 | HNDCentral America | 0.263 |
| 121 | MRTWestern Africa | 0.259 |
| 122 | MYSSouth-eastern Asia | 0.247 |
| 123 | RUSEastern Europe | 0.244 |
| 124 | DZANorthern Africa | 0.243 |
| 125 | GNBWestern Africa | 0.238 |
| 126 | ZWEEastern Africa | 0.227 |
| 127 | MARNorthern Africa | 0.217 |
| 128 | CODMiddle Africa | 0.216 |
| 129 | ARMWestern Asia | 0.212 |
| 130 | JORWestern Asia | 0.207 |
| 131 | VENSouth America | 0.202 |
| 132 | RWAEastern Africa | 0.194 |
| 133 | BGDSouthern Asia | 0.188 |
| =134 | LKASouthern Asia | 0.184 |
| =134 | VNMSouth-eastern Asia | 0.184 |
| =136 | IRNSouthern Asia | 0.178 |
| =136 | KGZCentral Asia | 0.178 |
| 138 | YEMWestern Asia | 0.173 |
| 139 | CAFMiddle Africa | 0.170 |
| =140 | KHMSouth-eastern Asia | 0.162 |
| =140 | CMRMiddle Africa | 0.162 |
| 142 | CHNEastern Asia | 0.161 |
| 143 | COGMiddle Africa | 0.153 |
| 144 | ETHEastern Africa | 0.151 |
| 145 | MDGEastern Africa | 0.144 |
| =146 | DJIEastern Africa | 0.137 |
| =146 | EGYNorthern Africa | 0.137 |
| 148 | BHRWestern Asia | 0.135 |
| 149 | TUNNorthern Africa | 0.124 |
| 150 | SOMEastern Africa | 0.120 |
| =151 | TCDMiddle Africa | 0.108 |
| =151 | KAZCentral Asia | 0.108 |
| 153 | AREWestern Asia | 0.094 |
| 154 | AGOMiddle Africa | 0.093 |
| 155 | SWZSouthern Africa | 0.092 |
| 156 | CUBCaribbean | 0.088 |
| 157 | TJKCentral Asia | 0.084 |
| 158 | GINWestern Africa | 0.080 |
| 159 | QATWestern Asia | 0.077 |
| =160 | BLREastern Europe | 0.074 |
| =160 | GMBWestern Africa | 0.074 |
| =162 | GNQMiddle Africa | 0.060 |
| =162 | FJIMelanesia | 0.060 |
| 164 | SDNNorthern Africa | 0.059 |
| 165 | AZEWestern Asia | 0.055 |
| 166 | OMNWestern Asia | 0.053 |
| 167 | SAUWestern Asia | 0.052 |
| 168 | LAOSouth-eastern Asia | 0.041 |
| 169 | UZBCentral Asia | 0.039 |
| 170 | LBYNorthern Africa | 0.038 |
| 171 | TKMCentral Asia | 0.031 |
| =172 | ERIEastern Africa | 0.026 |
| =172 | MMRSouth-eastern Asia | 0.026 |
| 174 | SYRWestern Asia | 0.025 |
| 175 | PRKEastern Asia | 0.008 |
02In 2009
At either end
The 5 countries at each end of the headline.
Highest
- 1
Sweden0.880
- 2
Denmark0.877
- 3
Norway0.872
- 4
Germany0.870
- 5
United States0.863
Lowest
- 175
North Korea0.008
- 174
Syria0.025
- 172
Myanmarshared0.026
- 172
Eritreashared0.026
- 171
Turkmenistan0.031
A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.381. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.
032008 → 2009
Since 2008
What changed between 2008 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.
- +0 / −0countries joined / left
- 132values changed, of 175 in both
- 70 · 62rose · fell
- 43unchanged
Rose most
Maldives0.309 → 0.477+0.168
Bangladesh0.097 → 0.188+0.091
Slovenia0.692 → 0.780+0.088
El Salvador0.358 → 0.444+0.086
Vanuatu0.512 → 0.578+0.066
Fell most
Madagascar0.289 → 0.144−0.145
Honduras0.407 → 0.263−0.144
Niger0.456 → 0.362−0.094
Bulgaria0.610 → 0.569−0.041
Ecuador0.476 → 0.435−0.041
Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.
04Caveats
Read before you use
What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.
One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2009.
158 distinct values among 175
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.578. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
V-Dem Institute publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 175 countries has every column.
05The files
Download and cite
The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.
- .csv
For a spreadsheet or code
175 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download deliberative-democracy-2009-nations-inquiry.csv - ↗
The publisher’s original
V-Dem Institute’s own file, on its own site.
V-Dem-CY-Core-v16_csv.zip
What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words
Cite this edition
V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg (2009). Deliberative Democracy Index, 2009 [data set], describing 2009. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/deliberative-democracy/2009
0636 held
Other years
‹ The year before
Deliberative Democracy Index, 2008175 countries
The year after ›
Deliberative Democracy Index, 2010175 countries
All of them
Deliberative Democracy Index: every year36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country