Data Exploration: Democracy
Democracy Data Introduction By Max RoserAdapted by Mike Papritz and Trevor R. GetzToday, most people in the world live in democracies, and most governments in the world are democratic. The data shows that this transition to democracy happened only recently.
2Democracy Data IntroductionBy Max RoserIntroductionA democracy is a political system that gives citizens an opportunity to express their political preferences. Generally, democracies place checks and balances on the branches of government and guarantee civil liberties. In this data exploration, we will look at trends in the number of democracies in the world. The majority of the world’s countries are now democracies. Yet historically, democracies were very rare. Chart 1 records trends in the number of democratic states in the world over time, from 1900 onward. The chart records both the number of democracies and the number of autocracies. Democracies are political systems whereby the population can state their preferences for a governing party or leader—such as through an election. In contrast, autocracies are systems where a single leader or party has absolute power without being elected or chosen by the population of a given country.There are more democratic governments in the world today than autocracies. But does that mean that there has been a straightforward, uncomplicated growth of democracy over time? Or was history more complicated?Chart 1:Explore at: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/numbers-of-autocracies-and-democracies By Our World in Data, CC BY 4.0.
3Democracy Data IntroductionBy Max RoserThe spread of democracyThe end of World War I led to the birth of many democracies. However, during the 1930s, many of these young democracies then reverted to being autocratic. After World War II, the number of democracies began growing again. It was the decline and fall of the Soviet Union beginning in the late 1980s that led to a more dramatic increase in the number of democracies. But Chart 1 only records the number of democracies in the world. It doesn’t show us how many people lived in them. Chart 2 below divides the world into six different types of government and shows the number of people in the world governed under each. Chart 2:Explore at: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/world-pop-by-political-regime By Our World in Data, CC BY 4.0.During the nineteenth century, most of the world’s population lived in colonial empires, autocracies, or anocracies (a form of government that is part democracy, part autocracy). The late nineteenth century saw a limited expansion of democracies. And since that time, there has been a general upward trend in the share of the world population living under democracies, except for the period before and during World War II. During the second half of the twentieth century, colonies gained independence and more countries became democracies. Today, more than half the world’s population live in a democracy. Of those who still live in autocracies, four-fifths are Chinese.
4Democracy Data IntroductionBy Max RoserAnother way to look at this kind of data is through a dynamic map, which also shows changes over time. The map below uses data called a “Democracy Score” to rate the degree to which a country is a democracy from a score of -10 (an autocracy, not at all democratic) to +10 (a full democracy). Here, only data for 2015 is shown, but you can use the slider (found at the link below) to move across time from the earliest dates represented in the map (1816) to the most recent date (2015).Map 1:Explore at: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/political-regime-updated2016 By Our World in Data, CC BY 4.0.Most countries in Europe and the Americas are now democracies. Some parts of Africa—especially in the west and the south—have democratized. So too have countries in Asia, with India being the world’s largest democracy. Many countries are full democracies (score of 10), including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Mongolia. Was the world becoming more democratic over the past two centuries? Are these trends still holding true today? What will happen in the future?
5Democracy Data IntroductionBy Max RoserMax RoserMax is the founder and director of Our World in Data. He began the project in 2011 and for several years was the sole author, until receiving funding for the formation of a team. Max’s research focuses on poverty, global health, and the distribution of incomes. He is also Programme Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development at the University of Oxford, and Co-executive Director of Global Change Data Lab, the non-profit organization that publishes and maintains the website and the data tools that make OWID’s work possible.Image creditsCover: A meeting of India’s Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) takes place inside the central hall of Parliament in New Delhi, 15 May 2004. The Congress Party effectively named Italian-born Sonia Gandhi as its choice for prime minister, two days after it defied predictions and swept the ruling Hindu nationalists from power.The party’s 144 MPs unanimously elected the 57-year-old Gandhi as head of the Congress parliamentary caucus, taking her one step closer to becoming leader of the world’s largest democracy. © PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/meeting-of-indias-congress-parliamentary-party-takes-place-news-photo/50839559?adppopup=true