Data for 1999

Participatory Democracy Index, 1999

Name: Participatory Democracy Index, 1999
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

1999, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Participatory Democracy Index, 1999 covers 174 countries. Switzerland is highest, at 0.787; 2 countries share the lowest reading, 0.013. The middle country reads 0.279. Against 1998, 113 values changed (49 up, 64 down), 1 country joined.

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Participatory Democracy Index · Data for 1999

HighestSwitzerland

0.787

Lowest2 countries share it

0.013

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

174countries
1measure
1999the year it describes
145distinct 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, 1999, 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 174 countries · select a heading to sort

Participatory Democracy Index, 1999: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.787
2	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.733
3	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.731
4	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.711
5	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.685
6	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.664
7	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.659
=8	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.652
=8	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.652
10	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.649
=11	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.643
=11	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.643
=11	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.643
14	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.641
15	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.636
16	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.635
17	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.632
18	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.630
=19	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.629
=19	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.629
21	United States`USA`Northern America	0.626
22	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.617
23	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.615
24	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.613
25	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.604
26	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.600
27	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.594
28	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.591
=29	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.589
=29	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.589
31	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.579
32	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.572
33	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.571
34	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.567
35	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.565
36	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.554
37	Chile`CHL`South America	0.553
38	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.516
39	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.514
40	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.505
41	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.491
42	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.485
=43	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.482
=43	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.482
=45	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.477
=45	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.477
47	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.467
48	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.460
49	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.458
50	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.449
=51	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.441
=51	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.441
53	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.428
54	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.420
55	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.418
56	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.414
57	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.413
58	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.401
59	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.396
60	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.389
61	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.375
62	Colombia`COL`South America	0.367
63	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.366
64	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.363
=65	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.359
=65	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.359
67	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.348
68	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.347
69	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.334
70	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.332
71	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.329
=72	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.324
=72	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.324
74	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.322
75	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.319
76	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.317
=77	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.316
=77	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.316
79	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.314
80	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.312
=81	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.311
=81	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.311
83	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.303
84	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.301
85	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.290
86	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.287
87	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.286
88	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.273
89	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.271
90	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.263
91	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.258
92	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.254
93	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.251
=94	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.247
=94	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.247
96	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.243
97	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.235
=98	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.234
=98	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.234
100	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.231
101	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.218
102	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.213
=103	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.207
=103	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.207
105	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.204
106	Peru`PER`South America	0.203
107	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.193
108	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.183
109	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.182
110	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.170
111	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.168
112	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.167
113	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.164
114	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.157
115	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.154
116	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.153
=117	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.150
=117	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.150
119	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.148
=120	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.147
=120	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.147
122	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.143
123	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.142
124	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.134
=125	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.133
=125	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.133
127	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.128
128	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.126
=129	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.121
=129	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.121
131	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.120
=132	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.118
=132	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.118
134	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.116
=135	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.113
=135	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.113
=137	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.110
=137	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.110
139	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.109
140	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.108
141	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.107
142	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.103
143	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.098
=144	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.096
=144	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.096
146	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.094
147	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.092
148	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.091
149	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.085
150	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.082
151	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.075
=152	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.073
=152	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.073
=154	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.069
=154	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.069
156	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.068
157	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.063
158	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.062
159	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.056
160	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.053
161	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.050
162	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.048
163	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.046
164	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.044
=165	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.043
=165	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.043
=165	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.043
168	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.038
169	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.019
170	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.018
=171	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.014
=171	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.014
=173	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.013
=173	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.013

02In 1999

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Switzerland0.787
2Uruguay0.733
3Denmark0.731
4New Zealand0.711
5Sweden0.685

Lowest

173Bahrainshared0.013
173Afghanistanshared0.013
171Qatarshared0.014
171United Arab Emiratesshared0.014
170Eritrea0.018

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.279. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031998 → 1999

Since 1998

What changed between 1998 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+1 / −0countries joined / left
113values changed, of 173 in both
49 · 64rose · fell
60unchanged

Rose most

Indonesia0.095 → 0.319+0.224
Nigeria0.175 → 0.271+0.096
Slovakia0.579 → 0.664+0.085
Benin0.291 → 0.334+0.043
Moldova0.322 → 0.359+0.037

Fell most

Comoros0.248 → 0.193−0.055
Nicaragua0.388 → 0.347−0.041
Malawi0.276 → 0.247−0.029
Niger0.182 → 0.154−0.028
Pakistan0.209 → 0.182−0.027

+ Kosovo

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 1999.
145 distinct values among 174
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.643. 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 174 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
174 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-1999-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 (1999). Participatory Democracy Index, 1999 [data set], describing 1999. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/participatory-democracy/1999

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Participatory Democracy Index, 1998
173 countries
The year after ›
Participatory Democracy Index, 2000
174 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