Democracy in United States
United States: Democracy was 3 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Latest (2025)
3
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
69th
of 175 countries
All-time high
5
in 1920
All-time low
1
in 1900
Years of data
126
1900–2025
Democracy in United States, 1900–2025
Source: Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
United States recorded 3 for democracy in 2025.
The figure is down 25.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, democracy in United States peaked at 5 in 1920 and was at its lowest, 1, in 1900.
That places United States 69th out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 126 years of available data.
Democracy in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 1 | — |
| 1901 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1902 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1903 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1904 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1905 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1906 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1907 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1908 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1909 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1910 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1911 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1912 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1913 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1914 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1915 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1916 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1917 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1918 | 1 | +0.0% |
| 1919 | 2 | +100.0% |
| 1920 | 5 | +150.0% |
| 1921 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1922 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1923 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1924 | 4 | -20.0% |
| 1925 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1926 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1927 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1928 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1929 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1930 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1931 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1932 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1933 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1934 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1935 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1936 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1937 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1938 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1939 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1940 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1941 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1942 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1943 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1944 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1945 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1946 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1947 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1948 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1949 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1950 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1951 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1952 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1953 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1954 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1955 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1956 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1957 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1958 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1959 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1960 | 5 | +25.0% |
| 1961 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1962 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1963 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1964 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1965 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1966 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1967 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1968 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1969 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1970 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1972 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1973 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1974 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1975 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1976 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1977 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1978 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1979 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1980 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1981 | 5 | +0.0% |
| 1982 | 4 | -20.0% |
| 1983 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1984 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1985 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1986 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1987 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1988 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1990 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1991 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1992 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1993 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1994 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1995 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1997 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 1999 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2000 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2004 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 4 | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 3 | -25.0% |
| 2025 | 3 | +0.0% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 3 is below the median for high income countries, which is 4, 75% of the median. (55 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 1910s | 1.1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 1920s | 4.4 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 1930s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1940s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1950s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 1960s | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 1970s | 5 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.2 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 1990s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 2000s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 2010s | 4 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.67 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
Countries ranked near United States
More reference data data for United States
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 19.34 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 24.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 20.7 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 119.42 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 64.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 52.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 133.45 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 589.96 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 112.69 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is democracy in United States?
- Democracy in United States was 3 in 2025, according to Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest democracy recorded in United States?
- The highest recorded value was 5 in 1920.
- What is the lowest democracy recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 1 in 1900.
- How does United States rank for democracy?
- United States ranks 69th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is democracy rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 25.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States data come from?
- The figures come from Episodes of Regime Transformation (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 126 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Political regime of a country using the classification by the Episodes of Regime Transformation-project. It distinguishes between hardening autocracies (score 0), stable autocracies (score 1), liberalizing autocracies (score 2), eroding democracies (score 3), stable democracies (score 4), and deepening democracies (score 5).