Freedom House Index

Well-known index in political science. Assigns degrees of freedom to countries through numerical ratings of political rights and civil liberties. The average of the ratings determines whether a state is 'Free', 'Partially Free', or 'Not Free'.

The numerical rating are based on assessments of experts of certain civil liberties and political rights. States are rated from 1 to 7 in both categories. 1 represents the highest level of freedom, whereas 7 represents the lowest level of freedom.

The Index is released annually. Rankings and ratings can be viewed in comparative surveys from 1973 to 2005. Ratings and rankings can also be viewed as part of the Freedom in the World publication, where these are supplemented by country studies and an explanation of the methodology. 

This tool is useful in making a baseline study. It can be used within the analysis of the human rights situation and the analysis of the poitical context. It is also a useful tool for monitoring human rights. Finally it can be used in the evaluation phase to assess progress of certain human rights. 

Developer

Freedom House

Developer website

www.freedomhouse.org

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