Canada vs United States: Full democracy
Canada
1
in 2025
United States
1
in 2025
Canada rank
1st
United States rank
1st
Full democracy over time
- Canada
- United States
How they compare
Canada currently reports 1 against 1 in United States, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 185 shared years of data; in 1841 it was United States ahead.
Canada ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 197 countries.
Canada has averaged higher in every one of the 19 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Canada |
| 1950s | 1 | 0 | 1 | Canada |
| 1960s | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | Canada |
| 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 full democracy, Canada or United States?
- Canada, at 1 against 1 in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in full democracy between Canada and United States?
- 0, with Canada ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and United States?
- 185 years are reported by both, from 1841 to 2025.
- How do Canada and United States rank globally for full democracy?
- Canada 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 Full democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Identifies if a country is a full democracy using the extended Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy (LIED+).