Data for 1997

Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, 1997

Name: Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, 1997
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1997, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, 1997 covers 171 countries. Australia is highest, at 0.990; North Korea is lowest, at 0.004. The middle country reads 0.602. Against 1996, 28 values changed (11 up, 17 down), the same countries are covered.

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Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index · Data for 1997

HighestAustralia

0.990

LowestNorth Korea

0.004

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

171countries
1measure
1997the year it describes
154distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 26, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY-SA 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, 1997, as published. V-Dem Institute ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 171 countries · select a heading to sort

Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, 1997: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.990
2	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.988
3	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.987
4	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.984
5	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.974
6	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.973
=7	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.968
=7	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.968
9	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.960
10	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.955
=11	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.952
=11	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.952
=11	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.952
14	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.949
15	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.947
=16	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.944
=16	United States`USA`Northern America	0.944
=18	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.942
=18	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.942
20	Chile`CHL`South America	0.940
21	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.936
22	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.933
23	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.920
24	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.917
25	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.914
26	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.912
27	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.911
28	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.910
29	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.909
=30	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.904
=30	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.904
32	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.896
=33	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.892
=33	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.892
35	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.883
36	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.882
37	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.881
38	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.878
39	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.872
40	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.864
41	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.863
42	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.862
43	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.856
44	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.855
45	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.854
46	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.834
47	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.829
48	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.827
49	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.825
50	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.824
=51	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.821
=51	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.821
53	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.819
54	Colombia`COL`South America	0.815
55	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.797
56	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.783
57	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.782
58	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.780
59	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.778
60	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.768
61	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.761
62	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.757
63	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.751
64	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.748
65	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.746
66	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.738
67	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.731
=68	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.729
=68	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.729
70	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.725
71	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.719
=72	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.717
=72	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.717
74	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.707
75	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.702
76	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.684
77	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.672
78	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.671
79	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.658
80	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.645
81	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.642
82	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.635
83	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.634
84	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.609
85	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.603
86	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.602
87	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.600
88	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.597
89	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.588
90	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.573
91	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.569
92	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.566
93	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.545
94	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.543
95	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.538
96	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.513
97	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.507
98	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.506
99	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.505
100	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.503
101	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.498
102	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.487
103	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.474
104	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.468
105	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.461
106	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.451
107	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.448
108	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.419
109	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.412
110	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.407
111	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.398
112	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.393
113	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.387
=114	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.380
=114	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.380
116	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.369
117	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.366
118	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.352
119	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.336
120	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.334
121	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.331
122	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.323
123	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.321
124	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.319
125	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.318
126	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.315
127	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.313
128	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.300
129	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.277
=130	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.275
=130	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.275
132	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.267
133	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.263
134	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.254
=135	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.226
=135	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.226
137	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.207
138	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.201
139	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.198
140	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.196
141	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.183
142	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.173
143	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.170
144	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.167
145	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.166
146	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.145
=147	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.129
=147	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.129
149	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.127
150	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.123
151	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.108
152	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.105
=153	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.093
=153	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.093
155	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.090
156	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.076
157	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.074
158	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.071
159	Peru`PER`South America	0.058
=160	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.055
=160	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.055
=162	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.053
=162	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.053
164	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.052
165	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.044
166	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.043
167	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.037
168	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.029
169	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.021
170	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.019
171	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.004

02In 1997

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Australia0.990
2Denmark0.988
3Switzerland0.987
4Norway0.984
5New Zealand0.974

Lowest

171North Korea0.004
170Uzbekistan0.019
169Sudan0.021
168Turkmenistan0.029
167Myanmar0.037

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.602. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031996 → 1997

Since 1996

What changed between 1996 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
28values changed, of 171 in both
11 · 17rose · fell
143unchanged

Rose most

Dominican Republic0.285 → 0.448+0.163
Türkiye0.757 → 0.829+0.072
Ecuador0.360 → 0.407+0.047
Afghanistan0.156 → 0.196+0.040
Bosnia and Herzegovina0.481 → 0.506+0.025

Fell most

Republic of the Congo0.555 → 0.123−0.432
Sierra Leone0.411 → 0.267−0.144
Belarus0.167 → 0.053−0.114
Liberia0.294 → 0.201−0.093
Niger0.690 → 0.609−0.081

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.

How values are stored

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 1997.
154 distinct values among 171
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.952. 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 171 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.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
171 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download judicial-constraints-1997-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 (1997). Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, 1997 [data set], describing 1997. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/judicial-constraints/1997

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, 1996
171 countries
The year after ›
Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index, 1998
172 countries
All of them
Judicial Constraints on the Executive Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions