Data for 2020

Participatory Democracy Index, 2020

Name: Participatory Democracy Index, 2020
Creator: V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg
License: https://v-dem.net/data/the-v-dem-dataset/

2020, as V-Dem Institute’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Participatory Democracy Index, 2020 covers 176 countries. Switzerland is highest, at 0.799; Eritrea is lowest, at 0.010. The middle country reads 0.328. Against 2019, 166 values changed (68 up, 98 down), the same countries are covered.

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Participatory Democracy Index · Data for 2020

HighestSwitzerland

0.799

LowestEritrea

0.010

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

176countries
1measure
2020the 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, 2020, 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 176 countries · select a heading to sort

Participatory Democracy Index, 2020: every country, as published by V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg.
derived
1	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	0.799
=2	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	0.701
=2	Uruguay`URY`South America	0.701
4	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	0.681
5	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	0.680
6	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	0.653
7	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	0.647
8	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	0.642
9	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	0.641
10	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	0.640
=11	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	0.635
=11	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	0.635
=11	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	0.635
=14	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	0.631
=14	Taiwan`TWN`Eastern Asia	0.631
16	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	0.629
=17	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	0.624
=17	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	0.624
19	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	0.617
20	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	0.614
21	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	0.612
=22	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	0.609
=22	Peru`PER`South America	0.609
24	France`FRA`Western Europe	0.606
25	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	0.605
26	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	0.603
27	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	0.602
28	Chile`CHL`South America	0.597
29	Canada`CAN`Northern America	0.590
30	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	0.586
31	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	0.584
32	United States`USA`Northern America	0.581
33	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	0.559
34	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	0.546
35	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	0.543
36	Argentina`ARG`South America	0.537
=37	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	0.532
=37	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	0.532
39	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	0.531
40	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	0.526
41	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	0.525
42	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	0.507
43	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	0.499
44	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	0.487
45	Suriname`SUR`South America	0.480
46	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	0.476
47	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	0.472
=48	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	0.463
=48	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	0.463
50	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	0.456
=51	Colombia`COL`South America	0.447
=51	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	0.447
53	Brazil`BRA`South America	0.445
54	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	0.444
55	Ecuador`ECU`South America	0.437
56	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	0.436
57	Panama`PAN`Central America	0.433
58	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	0.415
59	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	0.412
60	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	0.407
=61	Mexico`MEX`Central America	0.405
=61	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.405
63	Kosovo`XKX`Southern Europe	0.404
=64	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	0.397
=64	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	0.397
66	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	0.390
67	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	0.388
68	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	0.387
69	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	0.381
70	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	0.378
71	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	0.376
72	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	0.375
73	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	0.360
74	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	0.359
=75	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	0.357
=75	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.357
77	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	0.355
78	Paraguay`PRY`South America	0.354
=79	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	0.349
=79	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	0.349
81	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	0.348
82	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	0.346
=83	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	0.344
=83	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	0.344
85	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	0.342
86	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	0.339
87	Guyana`GUY`South America	0.336
88	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	0.330
89	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	0.326
90	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	0.324
91	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	0.320
=92	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	0.313
=92	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	0.313
94	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	0.309
95	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	0.303
96	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	0.285
97	Seychelles`SYC`Eastern Africa	0.281
98	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	0.276
99	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	0.274
100	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	0.271
101	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.260
=102	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	0.259
=102	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	0.259
104	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	0.257
105	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	0.254
106	India`IND`Southern Asia	0.252
=107	Honduras`HND`Central America	0.250
=107	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.250
=109	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	0.246
=109	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	0.246
111	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.245
112	Somaliland`XSL`Eastern Africa	0.244
=113	Bolivia`BOL`South America	0.243
=113	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	0.243
115	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	0.242
116	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	0.238
117	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	0.232
118	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	0.228
119	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	0.227
120	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	0.223
121	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	0.218
122	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	0.207
123	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	0.200
124	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	0.198
125	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	0.197
126	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	0.195
127	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	0.186
=128	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	0.181
=128	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	0.181
130	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	0.177
131	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	0.175
132	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	0.163
133	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	0.161
134	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	0.159
=135	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	0.153
=135	Venezuela`VEN`South America	0.153
137	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	0.133
138	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.126
139	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	0.125
140	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	0.120
141	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	0.119
142	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	0.117
143	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	0.113
144	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	0.110
=145	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	0.109
=145	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.109
147	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.108
=148	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	0.107
=148	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	0.107
150	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.101
151	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	0.097
152	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	0.093
153	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	0.090
154	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	0.088
155	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	0.087
156	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	0.085
157	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	0.080
158	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	0.079
159	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.077
160	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	0.072
161	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	0.065
162	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	0.063
163	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	0.059
164	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	0.058
165	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	0.055
166	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	0.054
167	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	0.046
=168	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	0.043
=168	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	0.043
170	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	0.041
=171	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	0.037
=171	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	0.037
173	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	0.032
174	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	0.022
175	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.017
176	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	0.010

02In 2020

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Switzerland0.799
2Denmarkshared0.701
2Uruguayshared0.701
4New Zealand0.681
5Italy0.680

Lowest

176Eritrea0.010
175Qatar0.017
174Saudi Arabia0.022
173Turkmenistan0.032
171Chinashared0.037

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 0.328. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032019 → 2020

Since 2019

What changed between 2019 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
166values changed, of 176 in both
68 · 98rose · fell
10unchanged

Rose most

Dominican Republic0.369 → 0.436+0.067
Moldova0.386 → 0.447+0.061
Romania0.557 → 0.605+0.048
Malawi0.315 → 0.359+0.044
Chile0.559 → 0.597+0.038

Fell most

Bolivia0.341 → 0.243−0.098
Mauritius0.443 → 0.346−0.097
Greece0.628 → 0.559−0.069
Slovenia0.600 → 0.532−0.068
Burundi0.144 → 0.080−0.064

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 2020.
151 distinct values among 176
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 3 countries share 0.635. 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 176 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
176 rows · 4.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download participatory-democracy-2020-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 (2020). Participatory Democracy Index, 2020 [data set], describing 2020. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/participatory-democracy/2020

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Participatory Democracy Index, 2019
176 countries
The year after ›
Participatory Democracy Index, 2021
176 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