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Democracy and elections

2 questions, with yearly data from 1945 to 2026.

Questions

QuestionYearsTrust
How democratic is each country, according to the main indices?209 countries and territories democracy score points (maximum 100; each index has its own floor), each index rescaled only by its own maximumDemocracy and elections · World2005–202555 Low
What share of voters turn out in national elections in each country?200 countries % of registered voters who cast a ballot in the parliamentary electionDemocracy and elections · World1945–202663 Moderate
Recorded changes in how sources report (42)
  • 2023, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Chile: Practiced from 1925 to 2012, reintroduced 2023. Chile abandoned compulsory voting in 2012 but reintroduced it in 2023. source · page
  • 2019, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Samoa: 2019. First implemented in 2021 General Elections. source · page
  • 2017, Freedom House: From the 2018 edition (covering 2017) Freedom House removed Additional Discretionary Political Rights Question A, which it says affected a very small number of countries. source · page
  • 2017, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Bulgaria: 2016. Compulsory voting was introduced in 2016 but became non-enforceable in 2017. source · page
  • 2017, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Cyprus: Practiced from 1960 to 2017. Cyprus abandoned compulsory voting in 2017. source · page
  • 2016, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Bulgaria: 2016. Compulsory voting was introduced in 2016 but became non-enforceable in 2017. source · page
  • 2015, BTI: The BTI 2016 (review period ending in 2015) raised the thresholds separating its regime types and applied them back to the 2006-2014 editions, changing 96 of 38,740 recorded scores. source · page
  • 2014, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Fiji: Practiced from 1992 to 2006. Fiji abandoned compulsory voting in 2014. source · page
  • 2012, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Chile: Practiced from 1925 to 2012, reintroduced 2023. Chile abandoned compulsory voting in 2012 but reintroduced it in 2023. source · page
  • 2011, IDEA: IDEA's row for 2011 (22.77%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 2010, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Dominican Republic: Practiced till 2010. The Dominican Republic formally abandoned compulsory voting in 2010. source · page
  • 2010, IDEA: IDEA's row for 2010 (87.76%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list, which lists only an upper-chamber election that year. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 2006, IDEA: IDEA's row for 2006 (64.77%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list, which lists only an upper-chamber election that year. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 2003, IDEA: IDEA's row for 2003 (60.06%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 2000, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Greece: 1926. Administrative sanctions, including prohibition to issue a passport, a driving license or an occupational license, were officially lifted in year 2000. Voting is not compulsory for those who are over 70 years old, hospitalized citizens, and those residing abroad. source · page
  • 2000, IDEA: IDEA's row for 2000 (88.80%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1997, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1997 (44.53%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1997, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1997 (88.13%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1996, IDEA: IDEA codebook: the 1992-96 elections, which excluded women from voting, are included for comparison. source · page
  • 1994, IDEA: IDEA codebook: elections before 1994, with the franchise limited to a small ethnically defined segment of the population, are not included. source · page
  • 1993, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Italy: Practiced from 1945 to 1993. source · page
  • 1993, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Venezuela: Practiced from 1958 to 1993. Venezuela abandoned compulsory voting in 1993. A provision in the Constitution describing voting as a duty remained until 1999. Nevertheless, the elimination of legal sanctions in 1993 marks that year as the end of compulsory voting (Carey and Horiuchi, 2017). Compulsory voting was enforced until 1973. source · page
  • 1991, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1991 (59.00%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1991, IDEA: IDEA codebook: elections before 1991, with the franchise limited to a small segment of the population, are not included. source · page
  • 1990, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Guatemala: Guatemala abandoned compulsory voting in 1990. source · page
  • 1988, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1988 (85.70%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1986, IDEA: IDEA codebook: elections before 1986, which excluded women from voting, are included for comparison. source · page
  • 1982, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1982 (61.10%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1981, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1981 (87.03%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1980, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1980 (74.32%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1980, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1980 (81.35%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1980, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1980 (74.56%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1978, IDEA: IDEA's file shows 102.62% of registered voters, above 100%. source · page
  • 1977, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1977 (86.69%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1973, IDEA: IDEA codebook: the 1973 election, which excluded women from voting, is included for comparison. source · page
  • 1972, IDEA: IDEA's file shows 100.29% of registered voters, above 100%. source · page
  • 1971, IDEA: IDEA codebook: elections before 1971, which excluded women from voting, are included for comparison. source · page
  • 1967, IDEA: IDEA's compulsory-voting table, Netherlands: Practiced from 1917 to 1967. source · page
  • 1967, IDEA: IDEA's row for 1967 (82.19%) has no matching lower-house election in IPU's list, which lists only an upper-chamber election that year. Kept; not confirmed either way. source · page
  • 1956, IDEA: IDEA codebook: elections before 1956, which excluded women from voting, are included for comparison. source · page

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