Click on any country to see a brief summary of the state of their democracy.

Countries included: Brunei, Cambodia, China, North Korea, Laos, Tibet, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Philippines, Singapore, Bhutan, Timor-Leste, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Mongolia, Japan, and Taiwan.

Electoral Democracy:

0 Voters have no power to choose their leaders. All leaders are chosen by the ruling party or monarchy. There have been no real elections in the past decade.

1 Voters have the ability to choose from a range of leaders that are approved by the ruling party. There have been highly fraudulent elections in the last decade.

2 While opposition is allowed, the ruling party or monarchy maintains its power through undemocratic means and recent elections have been marred by voter and opposition suppression.

3 Opposition is allowed, and the country exercises regular elections, but there have been widespread concerns of fraud in recent elections.

4 The country holds regular, democratic elections, but there have been isolated concerns of fraud in recent elections.

5 There have been few to no substantiated cases of fraud in recent elections.

Social Democracy and Freedom:

0 Freedoms are strictly limited by the state. Religious, ethnic, and racial minorities are severely oppressed. Press freedom and freedom of expression are nonexistent.

1 Freedoms are limited by the state. Minorites have no opportunity for advancement and are oppressed. The state controls the press and information flow.

2 Certain religious, ethnic, and racial minorities are severely oppressed and enjoy little freedom. In addition to holding political prisoners, the state may control access to information and hold significant media sway.

3 While there are some opportunities for minority groups to advance, their standing is limited, and the country may limit press freedom or internet access.

4 The citizens are relatively free, but there have been cases of certain groups receiving far fewer and lesser opportunities.

5 There have been few to no substantiated cases of oppression in recent years.

Overall Average Democracy and Freedom: