Data for 1996

Participatory Democracy Index, 1996

Name: Participatory Democracy Index, 1996
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1996, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Participatory Democracy Index, 1996 covers 172 countries. Switzerland is highest, at 0.792; Bahrain is lowest, at 0.011. The middle country reads 0.274. Against 1995, 115 values changed (71 up, 44 down), the same countries are covered.

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Participatory Democracy Index · Data for 1996

HighestSwitzerland

0.792

LowestBahrain

0.011

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

172countries
1measure
1996the year it describes
151distinct 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, 1996, 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 172 countries · select a heading to sort

Participatory Democracy Index, 1996: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.792
2	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.744
3	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.734
4	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.709
5	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.689
6	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.661
7	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.659
8	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.652
9	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.647
10	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.646
11	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.644
12	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.642
13	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.637
14	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.635
15	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.634
16	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.633
17	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.630
18	United States`USA`Northern America	0.626
19	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.625
20	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.620
=21	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.615
=21	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.615
23	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.611
24	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.608
25	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.600
=26	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.587
=26	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.587
28	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.585
29	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.584
30	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.578
31	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.572
32	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.563
33	Chile`CHL`South America	0.556
34	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.552
35	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.518
36	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.515
37	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.510
38	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.507
39	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.501
40	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.492
41	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.491
42	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.486
43	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.482
44	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.480
45	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.466
46	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.463
=47	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.458
=47	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.458
49	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.450
50	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.441
51	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.438
52	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.434
53	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.418
54	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.417
55	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.414
56	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.405
57	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.401
58	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.390
59	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.383
60	Colombia`COL`South America	0.382
61	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.375
62	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.367
63	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.364
64	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.345
65	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.340
66	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.333
67	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.330
68	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.324
69	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.323
70	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.320
71	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.318
72	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.317
73	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.314
=74	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.313
=74	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.313
76	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.311
77	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.304
78	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.303
79	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.300
80	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.298
81	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.296
82	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.292
83	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.291
84	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.279
85	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.277
86	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.276
87	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.272
88	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.251
89	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.243
90	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.233
91	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.232
92	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.231
=93	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.230
=93	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.230
95	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.224
96	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.223
97	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.216
=98	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.214
=98	Peru`PER`South America	0.214
=100	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.212
=100	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.212
102	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.209
103	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.205
104	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.202
105	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.193
106	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.187
107	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.183
108	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.178
=109	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.168
=109	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.168
111	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.166
112	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.161
113	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.160
114	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.154
115	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.152
116	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.149
117	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.146
118	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.145
119	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.142
120	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.139
121	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.138
=122	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.129
=122	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.129
124	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.128
125	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.126
=126	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.122
=126	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.122
128	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.120
=129	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.118
=129	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.118
=129	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.118
132	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.117
133	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.116
=134	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.115
=134	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.115
136	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.107
137	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.105
=138	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.102
=138	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.102
140	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.095
=141	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.094
=141	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.094
143	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.092
144	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.091
=145	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.083
=145	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.083
147	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.081
148	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.075
149	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.071
=150	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.069
=150	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.069
152	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.068
153	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.062
154	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.058
155	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.056
=156	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.053
=156	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.053
158	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.051
159	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.050
160	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.046
161	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.045
162	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.044
=163	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.043
=163	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.043
=163	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.043
166	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.039
167	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.019
168	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.016
=169	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.014
=169	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.014
171	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.013
172	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.011

02In 1996

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Switzerland0.792
2Uruguay0.744
3Denmark0.734
4New Zealand0.709
5Sweden0.689

Lowest

172Bahrain0.011
171Afghanistan0.013
169Qatarshared0.014
169United Arab Emiratesshared0.014
168Eritrea0.016

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.274. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031995 → 1996

Since 1995

What changed between 1995 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
115values changed, of 172 in both
71 · 44rose · fell
57unchanged

Rose most

Taiwan0.229 → 0.333+0.104
Tanzania0.230 → 0.314+0.084
Haiti0.174 → 0.243+0.069
Gambia0.051 → 0.118+0.067
Dominican Republic0.284 → 0.345+0.061

Fell most

Niger0.245 → 0.160−0.085
Belarus0.293 → 0.230−0.063
Armenia0.236 → 0.214−0.022
Albania0.234 → 0.216−0.018
Australia0.655 → 0.637−0.018

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 1996.
151 distinct values among 172
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.118. 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 172 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
172 rows · 4.7 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download participatory-democracy-1996-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 (1996). Participatory Democracy Index, 1996 [data set], describing 1996. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/participatory-democracy/1996

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Participatory Democracy Index, 1995
172 countries
The year after ›
Participatory Democracy Index, 1997
172 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

07Questions