Democracy linked to freedom of expression
Comparing Democracy with Freedom of Expression Index across 173 countries, 1948–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.85
- Holding size constant
- +0.82
- Countries compared
- 173
- Period
- 1948–2025
What might link these
The strong correlation between democracy and freedom of expression might be due to the fact that democratic countries tend to protect individual rights, including freedom of speech. A careful reader should be cautious about potential confounders, such as education level, which could influence both indicators. Education could be a likely confounder, as it can foster critical thinking and civic engagement.
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 does not necessarily imply that democracy causes freedom of expression, as there may be underlying factors driving both.
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.