Acknowledgements

This edition of Freedom in the World is dedicated to Arch Puddington, a lifelong champion of democracy who retired in 2020 after serving for 26 years as a mainstay of Freedom House's research and analysis division.

Donors

This report was made possible by the generous support of the National Endowment for Democracy, the Merrill Family Foundation, and the Lilly Endowment. 

Research and Editorial Team

Elisha Aaron, Editorial Research Assistant

Ever Bussey, Research Associate

Noah Buyon, Research Analyst

Cathryn Grothe, Research Associate

David Meijer, Associate Editor

Shannon O’Toole, Managing Editor

Sarah Repucci, Vice President for Research and Analysis

Tyler Roylance, Staff Editor

Amy Slipowitz, Research Manager

Mai Truong, Director of Research Operations

Tessa Weal, Research Assistant

 

Analysts

Aalaa Abuzaakouk, Youth program manager for the Middle East and North Africa region

Elen Aghekyan, Yale University

Tiago Aguiar, Independent researcher

Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei, PhD candidate, School of Oriental and African Studies

Aurora Almada e Santos, NOVA University of Lisbon

Ibrahima Amadou Niang, Independent researcher

Ignacio Arana Araya, Assistant Teaching Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

Bojan Baća, Re:constitution Research Fellow, Max Weber Institute of Sociology, Heidelberg University

Slava (Veaceslav) Balan, PhD candidate, University of Ottawa

Gerald Bareebe, Assistant Professor, York University

Chantal Berman, Georgetown University

Bruno Binetti, Inter-American Dialogue

Mamadou Bodian, West Africa Research Center

Gustavo Bonifaz Moreno, Independent researcher

Brett L. Carter, University of Southern California

Annie Barbara Chikwanha, University of Johannesburg

Peter Clegg, University of the West of England

Jack Corbett, Professor of politics, University of Southampton.

Olga de Obaldia, Fundación Libertad Ciudadana - Capítulo Transparencia Internacional Panamá

Karin Deutsch Karlekar, Director, Free Expression at Risk Programs, PEN America

Neil DeVotta, Wake Forest University

Jake Dizard, Independent researcher

Juan Carlos Donoso, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

Boniface Dulani, University of Malawi

Howard Eissenstat, Department of History, St. Lawrence University

Anthony Elghossain, lawyer, writer, and non-resident scholar, Middle East Institute

Donika Emini, Executive Director, Balkan Research Institute

Golnaz Esfandiari, Senior correspondent, Radio Free Europe

Jon Fraenkel, Professor of Comparative Politics, Victoria University of Wellington

Michael Freedman, University of Haifa

Michael Fusi Ligaliga, Te Tumu, School of Maori, Pacific & Indigenous Studies, University of Otago

Dustin Gilbreath, Caucasus Research Resource Centers Georgia

Katya Gorchinskaya, Independent consultant

Liutauras Gudžinskas, Vilnius University

Ted A. Henken, Baruch College, CUNY

Hannah Hills, The Governance Group

Jonathan Hulland, American Jewish World Service

Niklas Hultin, George Mason University

Harry Hummel, Independent researcher

Salomé Ietter, PhD candidate, Queen Mary University of London

Rico Isaacs, University of Lincoln

Faysal Itani, Center for Global Policy

Valery Kavaleuski, Independent researcher

Jane Kinninmont, European Leadership Network

Marko Kmezić, University of Graz

Niklas Kossow, Independent researcher

Ágnes Kovács, Assistant professor, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

Josh Kurlantzick, Council on Foreign Relations

Lone Lindholt, Independent researcher

Alyssa Maraj Grahame, Bates College

Richard R. Marcus, Professor and Director, The Global Studies Institute and the International Studies Program, California State University, Long Beach

David McGrane, St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan

Rachael McLellan, London School of Economics

Mushfiq Mohamed, Maldivian Democracy Network

Kacey Mordecai, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Jasmin Mujanovic, Political scientist, cohost of "Sarajevo Calling"

Harris Mylonas, Associate professor of political science and international affairs, George Washington University; Editor-in-chief, Nationalities Papers

Joachim Nahem, The Governance Group

Kuniaki Nemoto, Musashi University

Lucas Olo Fernandes, Independent researcher

Robert Orttung, George Washington University

Susan L. Ostermann, University of Notre Dame

Ana Pastor, Independent researcher

Aljaž Pengov Bitenc, Radio KAOS

Nicole Phillips, UC Hastings College of the Law

Enrica Picco, international lawyer and researcher

Elizabeth M. Ramey, Independent researcher

Adrien Ratsimbaharison, Benedict College

Corina Rebegea, Center for European Policy Analysis

Elizabeth Rhoads, Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University

Tyson Roberts, University of California, Los Angeles

Michael Runey, Enact Sustainable Strategies

Marek Rybar, Masaryk University, Brno

Debbie Sharnak, Rowan University

Elton Skendaj, Manchester University, USA

Olga Skrypnyk, human rights defender, head of the board of the Crimean Human Rights Group

Ruzha Smilova, Sofia University and Centre for Liberal Strategies

Jared Thompson, Master of Arts candidate, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Jenny Town, Fellow, Stimson Center

Elizabeth Tsurkov, Princeton University

Noah Tucker, Central Asia Program, George Washington University

Olesya Vartanyan, Senior analyst, International Crisis Group

Wouter Veenendaal, Leiden University

Diego Velazquez, Journalist

David Vivar, Academic coordinator, FLACSO-Honduras, Professor, National Autonomous University of Honduras

Franz von Bergen, Journalist

Nikolaus von Twickel, Center for Liberal Modernity, Berlin

Gregory White, Smith College

Tricia Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs

Faiz Zaidi, Research Officer, Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs

 

Advisers

Alejandro Anaya-Muñoz, ITESO, Jesuit University of Guadalajara

Florian Bieber, University of Graz

Julio F. Carrión, University of Delaware

Licia Cianetti, Royal Holloway, University of London

Javier Corrales, Amherst College

Mai El-Sadany, Managing Director and Legal and Judicial Director, Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy

Sumit Ganguly, Indiana University, Bloomington

Julie A. George, Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY

Yana Gorokhovskaia, Independent Researcher

Lane Greene, the Economist

Idayat Hassan, Centre for Democracy and Development

Steven Heydemann, Smith College

Peter Lewis, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

Peter Mandaville, Professor of International Affairs, Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University

Yael Mizrahi-Arnaud, The Forum for Regional Thinking

Sana Ali Mustafa, Associate Director, Partnerships, Asylum Access

Houda Mzioudet, University of Toronto

Catherine Putz, Managing editor, The Diplomat

Samer Shehata, University of Oklahoma

Dan Slater, University of Michigan

Bridget Welsh, University of Nottingham Malaysia

Susanna D. Wing, Haverford College