Freedom of association strongly correlates with electoral democracy across 173 countries.
Comparing Freedom of association index with Electoral democracy row across 173 countries, 1948–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.84
- Holding size constant
- +0.81
- Countries compared
- 173
- Period
- 1948–2025
What might link these
Both indicators likely reflect broader democratic governance, where open civic participation (freedom of association) supports fair elections (electoral democracy). However, wealthier or more stable countries may score high on both, suggesting GDP could still partially drive the link.
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. Correlation does not imply causation, and unmeasured factors like historical institutions or cultural norms may influence both indicators.
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.