Democracy linked to equal power access
Comparing Equal Access to Power Index with Democracy, gaps filled across 173 countries, 1948–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.78
- Holding size constant
- +0.74
- Countries compared
- 173
- Period
- 1948–2025
What might link these
The relationship between democracy and equal access to power might be driven by institutional factors that promote fairness and representation. A careful reader should be cautious about potential confounders, such as education levels, which could influence both indicators. The correlation persists even after controlling for population and GDP, suggesting a more nuanced relationship.
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 could mislead by implying causation, when in fact both indicators might be driven by underlying factors like cultural or historical context.
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.