Democracy features linked
Comparing Key features of democracy with Key features of liberal democracy, gaps filled across 173 countries, 1948–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.98
- Holding size constant
- +0.97
- Countries compared
- 173
- Period
- 1948–2025
What might link these
The strong correlation between key features of liberal democracy and democracy may indicate a shared underlying factor, such as a country's political culture or institutional framework. A careful reader should be cautious about assuming causation and consider potential confounders, like education or economic development. Education, in particular, could influence both indicators.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. This correlation might mislead by implying a direct causal relationship between the two indicators, rather than a complex interplay of factors.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.