Key features of democracy in United States
United States: Key features of democracy was 0.735 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
0.735
Change on year
down 12.8%
World rank
46th
of 176 countries
All-time high
0.905
in 2013
All-time low
0.323
in 1889
Years of data
237
1789–2025
Key features of democracy in United States, 1789–2025
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2025, key features of democracy in United States stood at 0.735.
That represents a change of down 12.8% on the previous year and down 18.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, key features of democracy in United States peaked at 0.905 in 2013 and was at its lowest, 0.323, in 1889.
United States ranks 46th of 176 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 237 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0.346 | 0.346 | 0.346 | 1 |
| 1790s | 0.3498 | 0.344 | 0.355 | 10 |
| 1800s | 0.3536 | 0.343 | 0.361 | 10 |
| 1810s | 0.3545 | 0.352 | 0.358 | 10 |
| 1820s | 0.3477 | 0.345 | 0.353 | 10 |
| 1830s | 0.3653 | 0.358 | 0.369 | 10 |
| 1840s | 0.3395 | 0.331 | 0.355 | 10 |
| 1850s | 0.3289 | 0.327 | 0.332 | 10 |
| 1860s | 0.3358 | 0.328 | 0.339 | 10 |
| 1870s | 0.3332 | 0.326 | 0.342 | 10 |
| 1880s | 0.3298 | 0.323 | 0.334 | 10 |
| 1890s | 0.3656 | 0.323 | 0.419 | 10 |
| 1900s | 0.4198 | 0.418 | 0.421 | 10 |
| 1910s | 0.4177 | 0.402 | 0.427 | 10 |
| 1920s | 0.5249 | 0.51 | 0.533 | 10 |
| 1930s | 0.553 | 0.53 | 0.562 | 10 |
| 1940s | 0.5732 | 0.548 | 0.611 | 10 |
| 1950s | 0.6117 | 0.585 | 0.625 | 10 |
| 1960s | 0.6794 | 0.649 | 0.7 | 10 |
| 1970s | 0.7771 | 0.718 | 0.834 | 10 |
| 1980s | 0.8573 | 0.844 | 0.863 | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.8683 | 0.863 | 0.872 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8661 | 0.828 | 0.9 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.8759 | 0.818 | 0.905 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.8173 | 0.735 | 0.857 | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More social development data for United States
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 457,647 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 3,667 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh 2 (2025)
- Democracy lexical 1 (2025)
- Human rights index vs electoral democracy index 0.826 (2025)
- Liberal democracy index 0.571 (2025)
- Electoral democracy index 0.735 (2025)
- Freedom of association index 0.913 (2025)
- Freedom of expression index 0.729 (2025)
- Participatory democracy index 0.51 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is key features of democracy in United States?
- Key features of democracy in United States was 0.735 in 2025, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest key features of democracy recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 0.905 in 2013.
- What is the lowest key features of democracy recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.323 in 1889.
- How does United States rank for key features of democracy?
- United States ranks 46th out of 176 countries with data for 2025.
- Is key features of democracy rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 18.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Key features of democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 237 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).