The State of Global Liberty, 2025
Governance Topology Index scores for 91 countries. The world is less free than it was fifteen years ago — and the pace of retreat is accelerating.
48
Global mean liberty
34%
Countries "Free"
41
Countries "Not Free"
−4.8
Change since 2010
19
Consecutive years of decline
0
Closed2040
Critical Instability ▼6080100
Full Democracy
Closed2040
Critical Instability ▼6080100
Full Democracy
The United States at 48 — now classified "Partly Free" — has fallen below the global mean for the first time in its history. It shares a cohort with Mexico (48), Serbia (48), and Singapore (47).
METHODOLOGY NOTE: The PTI score of L≈48 reflects the author's real-time institutional assessment incorporating executive action pace through early 2026. Published indices score the US higher: Freedom House 83/100 (2024 report), V-Dem LDI ≈0.65–0.72 (scaled: ~65–72). The divergence reflects the PTI's faster update cycle, weighting toward institutional constraint erosion, and incorporation of events post-dating published index coverage. All claims should be evaluated under both the author's PTI and established indices.
THEORETICAL BASIS: The ternary constraint models political power as a zero-sum allocation. T is computed as the residual (T = 100 − L − C), which the author acknowledges as a measurement limitation — the constraint holds definitionally, not as an independent empirical finding. L is measured via Freedom House; C via the Fragile States Index. Future work should develop independent Tyranny measures to test the constraint empirically.