Elected Political Leaders Index by country

Measures the extent to which the legislature is chosen through broad elections, and the chief executive is elected directly or indirectly (appointed by a popularly elected legislature).

Countries reporting
173
Highest
1
Angola
Lowest
0
Vatican
Median
1
Years covered
237
1789–2025
Data points
30,113

What the numbers show

Elected Political Leaders Index is currently reported for 173 countries. The highest value is 1 in Angola; the lowest is 0 in Vatican.

The median across all reporting countries is 1, and the mean is 0.81.

Over the past decade 9 countries rose and 21 fell. The largest increase was in Egypt (up 95.2%), and the largest decrease in Afghanistan (down 100.0%).

Elected Political Leaders Index: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Angola 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Albania 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 Argentina 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Armenia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Australia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Austria 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Azerbaijan 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Belgium 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Benin 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Bulgaria 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Belarus 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Bolivia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Brazil 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Barbados 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Bhutan 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Central African Republic 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Canada 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 Switzerland 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Chile 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Cote d'Ivoire 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Cameroon 1 2025 unchanged flat
1 Democratic Republic of Congo 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Congo 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Cape Verde 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Costa Rica 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 Cuba 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Cyprus 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Czechia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Germany 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Djibouti 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Denmark 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Dominican Republic 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Algeria 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Ecuador 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Spain 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Estonia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Ethiopia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Finland 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Fiji 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 France 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Gabon 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 United Kingdom 1 2025 unchanged flat
1 Georgia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Ghana 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Equatorial Guinea 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Greece 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Guatemala 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Honduras 1 2025 unchanged falling
1 Croatia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Hungary 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Indonesia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Iceland 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 Israel 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Jamaica 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Japan 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Kazakhstan 1 2025 up 2.2% volatile
1 Kyrgyzstan 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Cambodia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 South Korea 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Lebanon 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 Liberia 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 Sri Lanka 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Lesotho 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Lithuania 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Latvia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Moldova 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Maldives 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Mexico 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 North Macedonia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Montenegro 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Mongolia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Mozambique 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Mauritania 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Malawi 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Malaysia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Namibia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Nigeria 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Nicaragua 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Netherlands 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Norway 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Nepal 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 New Zealand 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 Pakistan 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Panama 1 2025 unchanged falling
1 Peru 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Philippines 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Papua New Guinea 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Poland 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Portugal 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Paraguay 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Romania 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Russia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Senegal 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Singapore 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Solomon Islands 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 El Salvador 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 Serbia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Sao Tome and Principe 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Suriname 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Slovakia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Slovenia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Sweden 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Seychelles 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Chad 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Togo 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Thailand 1 2025 volatile
1 Tajikistan 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Turkmenistan 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 East Timor 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Trinidad and Tobago 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Tunisia 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Turkey 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Ukraine 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Uruguay 1 2025 unchanged rising
1 United States 1 2025 unchanged flat
1 Uzbekistan 1 2025 up 2.6% volatile
1 Venezuela 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 Vanuatu 1 2025 unchanged volatile
1 South Africa 1 2025 unchanged flat
1 Zimbabwe 1 2025 up 5.3% rising
1 Taiwan 1 2025 unchanged volatile
126 India 0.996 2025 unchanged volatile
127 Uganda 0.986 2025 up 2.2% volatile
128 Italy 0.985 2025 down 0.5% volatile
129 Kenya 0.982 2025 down 0.6% volatile
130 Egypt 0.976 2025 up 95.2% volatile
130 Sierra Leone 0.976 2025 up 0.1% volatile
132 Iraq 0.972 2025 unchanged volatile
133 Zambia 0.967 2025 down 0.8% volatile
134 Gambia 0.955 2025 unchanged volatile
135 Colombia 0.952 2025 down 4.8% volatile
136 Comoros 0.932 2025 unchanged volatile
137 Botswana 0.925 2025 up 1.2% volatile
138 Rwanda 0.916 2025 up 1.2% volatile
139 Tanzania 0.91 2025 up 8.6% volatile
140 Burundi 0.906 2025 down 5.4% volatile
141 Guyana 0.903 2025 down 3.9% volatile
142 Mauritius 0.886 2025 unchanged volatile
143 Iran 0.5 2025 unchanged volatile
143 Laos 0.5 2025 volatile
143 Somalia 0.5 2025 unchanged volatile
143 South Sudan 0.5 2025 down 45.4% volatile
147 Afghanistan 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 United Arab Emirates 0 2025 flat
147 Burkina Faso 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Bangladesh 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Bahrain 0 2025 flat
147 China 0 2025 flat
147 Eritrea 0 2025 volatile
147 Guinea 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Guinea-Bissau 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Hong Kong 0 2025 flat
147 Haiti 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Jordan 0 2025 volatile
147 Kuwait 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Libya 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Morocco 0 2025 flat
147 Madagascar 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Mali 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Myanmar 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Niger 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Oman 0 2025 flat
147 North Korea 0 2025 flat
147 Palestine 0 1948 flat
147 Qatar 0 2025 flat
147 Saudi Arabia 0 2025 flat
147 Sudan 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Eswatini 0 2025 flat
147 Syria 0 2025 down 100.0% volatile
147 Vietnam 0 2025 volatile
147 Yemen 0 2025 volatile
147 Vatican 0 1870 flat

About this data

Indicator
Elected Political Leaders Index
Source
V-Dem (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
176 places, 30,113 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Measures the extent to which the legislature is chosen through broad elections, and the chief executive is elected directly or indirectly (appointed by a popularly elected legislature).