Data for 1990

Participatory Democracy Index, 1990

Name: Participatory Democracy Index, 1990
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1990, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Participatory Democracy Index, 1990 covers 166 countries. Switzerland is highest, at 0.788; Bahrain is lowest, at 0.011. The middle country reads 0.165.

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Participatory Democracy Index · Data for 1990

HighestSwitzerland

0.788

LowestBahrain

0.011

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

166countries
1measure
1990the year it describes
144distinct 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 Participatory Democracy Index, 1990, 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 166 countries · select a heading to sort

Participatory Democracy Index, 1990: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.788
2	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.718
3	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.685
4	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.682
5	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.678
6	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.668
7	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.648
8	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.646
9	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.634
10	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.629
11	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.622
12	United States`USA`Northern America	0.621
13	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.615
14	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.614
15	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.611
16	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.610
17	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.602
18	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.601
19	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.592
=20	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.588
=20	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.588
22	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.587
23	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.576
24	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.574
25	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.572
26	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.565
27	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.545
28	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.543
29	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.506
30	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.503
31	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.502
32	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.496
33	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.490
34	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.488
35	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.480
36	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.478
37	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.472
38	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.461
39	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.456
40	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.447
41	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.444
42	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.398
=43	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.390
=43	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.390
45	Chile`CHL`South America	0.373
46	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.362
47	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.361
48	Peru`PER`South America	0.353
49	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.338
50	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.336
51	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.335
52	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.328
53	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.326
54	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.324
55	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.318
56	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.316
=57	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.300
=57	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.300
59	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.297
60	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.294
61	Colombia`COL`South America	0.287
62	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.277
63	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.274
64	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.252
65	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.246
66	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.238
67	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.235
68	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.225
69	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.223
70	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.221
71	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.219
72	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.214
73	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.202
74	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.197
75	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.193
76	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.190
77	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.180
78	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.175
79	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.172
=80	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.169
=80	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.169
=82	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.167
=82	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.167
84	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.163
85	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.157
86	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.156
=87	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.155
=87	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.155
89	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.153
90	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.151
91	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.150
92	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.147
93	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.144
94	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.140
95	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.138
96	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.137
97	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.136
98	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.134
99	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.129
100	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.128
101	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.126
102	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.120
103	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.118
104	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.117
105	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.116
106	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.115
107	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.114
108	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.113
109	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.112
110	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.104
=111	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.103
=111	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.103
113	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.102
=114	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.097
=114	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.097
116	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.096
=117	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.095
=117	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.095
119	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.092
120	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.089
121	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.087
122	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.078
=123	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.076
=123	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.076
=125	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.074
=125	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.074
=125	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.074
=128	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.071
=128	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.071
=130	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.068
=130	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.068
132	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.066
133	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.062
134	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.061
135	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.059
136	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.056
=137	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.054
=137	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.054
139	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.053
=140	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.051
=140	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.051
142	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.050
=143	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.049
=143	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.049
=143	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.049
146	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.046
=147	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.044
=147	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.044
=147	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.044
=147	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.044
151	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.043
152	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.042
153	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.040
154	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.037
155	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.035
156	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.033
=157	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.027
=157	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.027
159	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.026
160	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.025
161	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.018
162	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.017
163	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.016
164	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.014
165	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.013
166	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.011

02In 1990

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Switzerland0.788
2Denmark0.718
3Sweden0.685
4Uruguay0.682
5Australia0.678

Lowest

166Bahrain0.011
165Qatar0.013
164United Arab Emirates0.014
163Eritrea0.016
162Angola0.017

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.165. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

03Caveats

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 1990.
144 distinct values among 166
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 4 countries share 0.044. 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 166 countries has every column.

04The 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
166 rows · 4.5 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download participatory-democracy-1990-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 (1990). Participatory Democracy Index, 1990 [data set], describing 1990. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/participatory-democracy/1990

0536 held

Other years

‹ The year before
This is the first year held here.
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Participatory Democracy Index, 1991
170 countries
All of them
Participatory Democracy Index: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

06Questions