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.

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.