France vs United States: Electoral democracy

France
1
in 2025
United States
1
in 2025
France rank
1st
United States rank
1st

Electoral democracy over time

  • France
  • United States
00.20.40.60.81178919072025

How they compare

France currently reports 1 against 1 in United States, a difference of 0.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was United States ahead.

France ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 197 countries.

France has averaged higher in every one of the 25 decades both report.

Head to head by decade

Decade France United States Difference Ahead
1780s 0 0 0
1790s 0 0 0
1800s 0 0 0
1810s 0 0 0
1820s 0 0 0
1830s 0 0 0
1840s 0 0 0
1850s 0 0 0
1860s 0 0 0
1870s 0 0 0
1880s 0 0 0
1890s 0 0 0
1900s 0 0 0
1910s 0 0 0
1920s 0 0 0
1930s 0 0 0
1940s 0.4 0 0.4 France
1950s 1 0 1 France
1960s 1 0.5 0.5 France
1970s 1 1 0
1980s 1 1 0
1990s 1 1 0
2000s 1 1 0
2010s 1 1 0
2020s 1 1 0

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher electoral democracy, France or United States?
France, at 1 against 1 in United States as of 2025.
What is the difference in electoral democracy between France and United States?
0, with France ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for France and United States?
237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
How do France and United States rank globally for electoral democracy?
France ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 197 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Electoral democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator
Electoral democracy
Source
Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
198 places, 32,485 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country using the reduced Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies, one-party autocracies, multi-party autocracies without elected executive, multi-party autocracies, exclusive democracies, male democracies, and electoral democracies (including full democracies or polyarchies).