Samoa vs South Africa: Electoral democracy
Samoa
1
in 2025
South Africa
1
in 2025
Samoa rank
1st
South Africa rank
1st
Electoral democracy over time
- Samoa
- South Africa
How they compare
Samoa currently reports 1 against 1 in South Africa, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 124 shared years of data; in 1902 it was South Africa ahead.
Samoa ranks 1st and South Africa ranks 1st of 197 countries.
Samoa has averaged higher in every one of the 13 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Samoa | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1910s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1920s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1950s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1960s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1970s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 1 | 0.6 | 0.4 | Samoa |
| 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, Samoa or South Africa?
- Samoa, at 1 against 1 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in electoral democracy between Samoa and South Africa?
- 0, with Samoa ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Samoa and South Africa?
- 124 years are reported by both, from 1902 to 2025.
- How do Samoa and South Africa rank globally for electoral democracy?
- Samoa ranks 1st and South Africa 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
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).