Nations in Transit
Nations in Transit evaluates the state of democracy in the region stretching from Central Europe to Central Asia.
About the Report
Nations in Transit evaluates the state of democracy in the region stretching from Central Europe to Central Asia. For all 29 countries in Nations in Transit, Freedom House—in consultation with the report authors, a panel of expert advisers, and a group of regional reviewers—provides numerical ratings in seven categories that broadly represent the institutional underpinnings of liberal democracy. These include elected state institutions (local and national governments), unelected state institutions (the judiciary and anticorruption authorities), and unelected nonstate institutions (the media and civil society). The ratings are based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 representing the lowest and 7 the highest level of democracy. The Democracy Score is a straight average of the seven indicators. In 2020, Freedom House introduced the Democracy Percentage, which is a translation of the Democracy Score to the 0—100 scale, with 0 representing the lowest and 100 the highest level of democracy. The detailed methodology is available here.
Nations in Transit does not rate governments per se, nor does it rate countries based on governmental intentions or legislation alone. Rather, a country’s ratings focus on the health of its institutions in the broadest sense and are determined by considering the practical effect of actions by the state as well as nongovernmental actors.
The Nations in Transit ratings, which should not be taken as absolute indicators of the situation in a given country, are valuable for making general assessments of how democratic or authoritarian a country is. They also allow for comparative analysis of reforms among the countries examined and for analysis of long-term developments in a particular country.
The Data
Freedom House contracts independent researchers from academia, journalism, and civil society for each country to draft the country reports and make the initial scoring decisions. These draft country reports and score proposals are sent to between three and six reviewers per country per year for comments. After researchers have a chance to respond to the comments, the Nations in Transit and its advisors meet to finalize scores for each country. Where possible, scores reflect the consensus of researchers, reviewers, advisors, and Freedom House, but Freedom House has the final vote on all score changes.
Comparative and Historical Data Files:
Our Donor
The annual report is funded through a grant from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Resources
Methodology
Nations in Transit measures progress and setbacks in democratization in 29 countries from Central Europe to Central Asia.
Country Data & Narratives
The Nations in Transit report produces 29 country narrative reports for each survey year. View data country by country, or select a country to read the full narrative report.
Report Archive
Find reports from 2009 to the present, including full PDF reports downloads and historical data in Excel format.
Recent Editions
Explore the Map
Explore trends in democracy status across the region spanning from Central Europe to Central Asia via the Nations in Transit 2020 interactive map.