Visualizing The World’s Countries By Political System

Nearly three-quarters of the world’s population now lives under autocratic rule, according to the V-Dem Institute’s 2024 Regimes of the World report. That’s the highest share since 1978.

The map below, via Visual Capitalist’s Bruno Venditti, classifies every country into one of four political systems: closed autocracy, electoral autocracy, electoral democracy, or liberal democracy.

The results point to a decades-long shift in global governance, with electoral autocracies now the most common regime type worldwide.

The Four Types of Political Regimes

-Dem classifies countries based on the competitiveness of elections, protection of civil liberties, and the strength of institutional checks and balances.

Here’s how the four categories differ:

1. Closed autocracies have no meaningful multiparty elections and suppress core democratic freedoms. Countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea fall into this group.

2. Electoral autocracies hold multiparty elections, but they are not free or fair. Media restrictions, weakened opposition, and limited civil liberties are common. This category includes countries such as Russia, India, and Turkey.

3. Electoral democracies conduct free and fair elections and protect basic rights, but may lack strong institutional constraints. Examples include Argentina, Poland, and the United Kingdom.

4. Liberal democracies go further, combining competitive elections with robust rule of law and checks and balances. Countries such as Germany, Japan, United States, and Uruguay are classified in this highest tier.

Scroll down to see how every country is classified.

Autocracy Is the Most Common Regime

Electoral autocracy is now the most common regime type in the world.

This category spans every continent, from Sub-Saharan Africa to South Asia and parts of Latin America. In many cases, democratic institutions still exist on paper, but their independence has eroded.

Large-population countries shifting toward electoral autocracy have an outsized effect on global trends. As a result, even if the number of democracies remains substantial, the share of people living under autocratic rule continues to grow.

Country	Regime
Afghanistan	Closed Autocracy
Albania	Electoral Autocracy
Algeria	Electoral Autocracy
Angola	Electoral Autocracy
Argentina	Electoral Democracy
Armenia	Electoral Democracy
Australia	Liberal Democracy
Austria	Electoral Democracy
Azerbaijan	Closed Autocracy
Bangladesh	Electoral Autocracy
Barbados	Liberal Democracy
Belarus	Closed Autocracy
Belgium	Liberal Democracy
Benin	Electoral Autocracy
Bhutan	Electoral Democracy
Bolivia	Electoral Democracy
Botswana	Electoral Democracy
Brazil	Electoral Democracy
Brunei	Closed Autocracy
Bulgaria	Electoral Democracy
Burkina Faso	Electoral Autocracy
Burundi	Closed Autocracy
Cambodia	Electoral Autocracy
Cameroon	Electoral Autocracy
Canada	Electoral Democracy
Cape Verde	Electoral Democracy
Central African Republic	Electoral Autocracy
Chad	Electoral Autocracy
Chile	Liberal Democracy
China	Closed Autocracy
Colombia	Electoral Democracy
Comoros	Electoral Autocracy
Congo (Brazzaville)	Electoral Autocracy
Costa Rica	Liberal Democracy
Côte d’Ivoire	Electoral Autocracy
Croatia	Electoral Democracy
Cuba	Closed Autocracy
Cyprus	Electoral Democracy
Czechia	Liberal Democracy
Denmark	Liberal Democracy
Dominican Republic	Electoral Democracy
Ecuador	Electoral Democracy
Egypt	Electoral Autocracy
El Salvador	Electoral Autocracy
Eritrea	Closed Autocracy
Estonia	Liberal Democracy
Eswatini	Electoral Autocracy
Ethiopia	Electoral Autocracy
Finland	Liberal Democracy
France	Liberal Democracy
Gabon	Electoral Autocracy
Gambia	Electoral Democracy
Georgia	Electoral Autocracy
Germany	Liberal Democracy
Ghana	Electoral Democracy
Greece	Electoral Democracy
Guatemala	Electoral Democracy
Guyana	Electoral Autocracy
Haiti	Closed Autocracy
Honduras	Electoral Autocracy
Hungary	Electoral Autocracy
Iceland	Liberal Democracy
India	Electoral Autocracy
Indonesia	Electoral Autocracy
Iran	Closed Autocracy
Ireland	Liberal Democracy
Israel	Electoral Democracy
Italy	Liberal Democracy
Jamaica	Liberal Democracy
Japan	Liberal Democracy
Jordan	Electoral Autocracy
Kazakhstan	Closed Autocracy
Kenya	Electoral Autocracy
Kosovo	Electoral Democracy
Kuwait	Electoral Autocracy
Laos	Closed Autocracy
Latvia	Liberal Democracy
Lebanon	Electoral Autocracy
Lesotho	Electoral Democracy
Liberia	Electoral Democracy
Libya	Closed Autocracy
Lithuania	Electoral Democracy
Luxembourg	Liberal Democracy
Madagascar	Electoral Autocracy
Malawi	Electoral Democracy
Malaysia	Electoral Autocracy
Maldives	Electoral Democracy
Malta	Electoral Democracy
Mauritania	Electoral Autocracy
Mauritius	Electoral Autocracy
Mexico	Electoral Autocracy
Mongolia	Electoral Autocracy
Montenegro	Electoral Democracy
Morocco	Electoral Autocracy
Mozambique	Electoral Autocracy
Myanmar	Electoral Autocracy
Nepal	Electoral Democracy
Netherlands	Liberal Democracy
New Zealand	Liberal Democracy
Nicaragua	Electoral Autocracy
Niger	Electoral Autocracy
Nigeria	Electoral Autocracy
North Korea	Closed Autocracy
Norway	Liberal Democracy
Oman	Closed Autocracy
Pakistan	Electoral Autocracy
Panama	Electoral Democracy
Paraguay	Electoral Democracy
Peru	Electoral Democracy
Poland	Electoral Democracy
Portugal	Electoral Democracy
Qatar	Closed Autocracy
Romania	Electoral Democracy
Russia	Electoral Autocracy
Rwanda	Electoral Autocracy
Saudi Arabia	Closed Autocracy
Senegal	Electoral Democracy
Serbia	Electoral Autocracy
Seychelles	Liberal Democracy
Sierra Leone	Electoral Autocracy
Singapore	Electoral Autocracy
Slovakia	Electoral Democracy
Slovenia	Electoral Democracy
Solomon Islands	Electoral Democracy
Somalia	Electoral Autocracy
South Africa	Liberal Democracy
South Sudan	Closed Autocracy
Spain	Liberal Democracy
Sri Lanka	Electoral Democracy
Sudan	Closed Autocracy
Suriname	Electoral Democracy
Sweden	Liberal Democracy
Switzerland	Liberal Democracy
Syria	Closed Autocracy
Taiwan	Liberal Democracy
Tajikistan	Closed Autocracy
Tanzania	Electoral Autocracy
Thailand	Electoral Autocracy
Togo	Electoral Autocracy
Trinidad and Tobago	Electoral Democracy
Tunisia	Electoral Autocracy
Turkey	Electoral Autocracy
Turkmenistan	Closed Autocracy
Uganda	Electoral Autocracy
United Arab Emirates	Closed Autocracy
United Kingdom	Electoral Democracy
United States	Liberal Democracy
Uruguay	Liberal Democracy
Uzbekistan	Closed Autocracy
Vanuatu	Electoral Democracy
Venezuela	Electoral Autocracy
Vietnam	Closed Autocracy
Yemen	Closed Autocracy
Zambia	Electoral Autocracy
Zimbabwe	Electoral Autocracy

Where Liberal Democracy Persists

Liberal democracies are concentrated in Western Europe, parts of East Asia, Oceania, and North America.

Nordic countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Finland remain among the strongest performers. So do nations like Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Taiwan.

However, even among established democracies, concerns about polarization, declining trust in institutions, and pressure on judicial independence have intensified in recent years.

While democratic systems still govern many countries, the overall global trend shows autocratic systems expanding their reach in terms of population.

Methodology

The classifications are based on the V-Dem Institute’s 2024 Regimes of the World dataset, which evaluates countries across indicators including electoral integrity, civil liberties, judicial independence, and executive constraints.

Countries are then grouped into one of four regime types to provide a simplified view of the global political landscape.

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The World’s 50 Largest Economies by GDP in 2026 on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.