Methodology

Dictatorank uses a transparent, community-driven system to evaluate the democratic health of countries around the world. Each country receives a Dictatorship Score ranging from 0% (healthy democracy) to 100% (full authoritarianism), based entirely on public, verifiable evidence.

Scoring Overview

  • Each country's score is based on a set of categories, each containing multiple indicators.
  • Indicators are weighted: each indicator has a weight value (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ...), representing its impact.
  • The overall score is the percentage of all possible indicator points (sum of all indicator weight values) that have been confirmed by evidence.
  • A higher score indicates a higher level of democratic backsliding or authoritarian behavior.

Categories (Current Set)

  1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
  2. Disdain for Human Rights
  3. Identification of Enemies and Scapegoats
  4. Supremacy of the Military
  5. Rampant Sexism
  6. Controlled Mass Media
  7. Obsession with National Security
  8. Religion and Government Intertwined
  9. Corporate Power Protected
  10. Fraudulent Elections
  11. Systemic Corruption
  12. Politicization and Control of Education
  13. Erosion and Takeover of Judicial Independence
  14. Cult of the Supreme Leader
Each category contains specific indicators that can be substantiated through evidence. For example, under Media Freedom, indicators might include arrest of journalists, censorship laws, or media monopolization.

Evidence-Based Scoring

  • Users submit evidence tied to a specific indicator within a category.
  • Evidence must be publicly verifiable (e.g., credible news reports, official documents, NGO reports).
  • Each submission is reviewed by moderators or trusted community members.
  • An indicator is only considered confirmed once it has at least 4 approved pieces of evidence.
  • Only confirmed indicators contribute to the score.

Scoring Logic

  • Each indicator has a weight value (e.g., 1, 2, 3, ...). This value is the number of points the indicator contributes if confirmed.
  • The total possible country score is the sum of all indicator weight values across all categories.
  • The achieved country score is the sum of weight values for all confirmed indicators.
  • The overall country score is:
    (achieved score / total possible score) × 100
  • If no indicators are confirmed, the score defaults to 0% (presumed healthy until proven otherwise).

Example

Suppose a country has 3 categories, each with indicators of weight 1, 2, and 3:
  • Total possible score: 1+2+3 (per category) × 3 categories = 18
  • If the country has confirmed evidence for indicators with weight 1 and 3 in the first category, and weight 2 in the second, the achieved score is 1+3+2 = 6
  • The overall dictatorship score is:
    (6 / 18) × 100 = 33.3%
This means the country has confirmed a third of all possible authoritarian indicators.
Dictatorank's methodology is designed to remain flexible, allowing categories and indicators to evolve over time with input from researchers, journalists, and community experts.