https://freedomhouse.org/

Freedom House is an organisation dedicated to advocacy for democracy and human rights.
It was founded by Wendell Wilkie (1940 Republican presidential nominee) and Eleanor Roosevelt.
FH produces very detailed annual reports on the state and trends of democracy, civil liberties and political freedoms, called Freedom in the World. They do give each country scores for various components, based on objective criteria, but beyond the numbers the reports are quite comprehensive. The organisation has received US government funding but despite this appears to operate with independence.
As someone who is interested in such topics I’ve been an avid peruser of these reports for some years. Over the last 20 years there has been an overall decline in “Freedom” as defined by FH.
2025 was another rough year for rights lovers, with more countries getting worse than better. Among the countries still rated “Free”, the three biggest drops were in Bulgaria, Italy and the United States.
The US suffered a 3 point drop to 81/100 in 2025. Over the past 20 years, its score has dropped from 93 to 81.
The score is composed of 32/40 for Political Rights and 49/60 for Civil Liberties. This puts in the same realm as Ghana (80), Vanuata (82) or South Africa (81): multiparty democracies but with curtailments of civil liberties.

For the record, Australia came out at 94 (PR 39, CL 55), which is not bad but is also down a few points from where we were in 2021.

Finland once again scored a perfect 100.

I’ve snapped all countries here with scores over 70.

Australia is tied for 22nd, and US is tied for 66th.

Our fleecegrabbing friends across the ditch nabbed silver and I’m sure we’re very happy for them.

I don’t want your freedom, I don’t want to play around

dv said:

I’ve snapped all countries here with scores over 70.

Australia is tied for 22nd, and US is tied for 66th.

Our fleecegrabbing friends across the ditch nabbed silver and I’m sure we’re very happy for them.

Does it give any specifics about how Australia could improve the score?

Any particular reason why this American organisation should be regarded as an authoritative arbiter?

Bubblecar said:

Any particular reason why this American organisation should be regarded as an authoritative arbiter?

It is the land of the free. They believe they have a mandate on freedom.

Bubblecar said:

Any particular reason why this American organisation should be regarded as an authoritative arbiter?

A long track record over several decades, and a well trained and experienced cohort of staff.

party_pants said:

Bubblecar said:

Any particular reason why this American organisation should be regarded as an authoritative arbiter?

A long track record over several decades, and a well trained and experienced cohort of staff.

Shedloads of criticism too, according to Wikipedia.

party_pants said:

dv said:

I’ve snapped all countries here with scores over 70.

Australia is tied for 22nd, and US is tied for 66th.

Our fleecegrabbing friends across the ditch nabbed silver and I’m sure we’re very happy for them.

Does it give any specifics about how Australia could improve the score?

The 2026 report for Australia is not up yet but the score is unchanged from the 2025 job. Here are some snippets from that.

0–60. See the methodology.

Overview
Australia has a strong record of advancing and protecting political rights and civil liberties. Challenges to these freedoms include the threat of foreign political influence, harsh policies toward asylum seekers, de facto discrimination against LGBT+ people, legal constraints on the press, and ongoing difficulties in ensuring the equal rights of First Nations Australians.

The government continued to introduce new immigration laws to bolster its powers following a 2023 court decision that banned the indefinite detention of asylum seekers and recognized refugees. In late November, Parliament enacted three laws that restricted immigration detainees’ access to mobile phones, set criminal penalties for failed asylum seekers and others who refuse to cooperate with their own deportations, and facilitated deportations to third countries.

In August, Parliament enacted legislation that enabled Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party government to place the construction wing of one of Australia’s largest unions, the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU), into administration based on allegations—untested in court—that it had links to organized crime. The government-appointed administrators, who were installed later that month, were empowered to fire union employees and expel members, alter the CFMEU’s internal rules, and disqualify union officers for up to five years. The takeover prompted street protests in major cities in September, and it came as the union movement sought to reverse a long-term decline in membership; while only 13.1 percent of Australian workers were union members as of August, down from about 40 percent in 1992, this represented an increase from 12.5 percent in 2022.

Bubblecar said:

Any particular reason why this American organisation should be regarded as an authoritative arbiter?

Naturally opinions will differ, but I approve of their methodology of applying points on specific criteria based on objective measures.

Should be noted that the ranking of the US is broadly in line with various non-American rankings: top-half, but below the OECD and much of the developing world. Reporters sans frontières for instance (international but HQed in Paris) ranks the US 56th in press freedom.

dv said:

Bubblecar said:

Any particular reason why this American organisation should be regarded as an authoritative arbiter?

Naturally opinions will differ, but I approve of their methodology of applying points on specific criteria based on objective measures.

Should be noted that the ranking of the US is broadly in line with various non-American rankings: top-half, but below the OECD and much of the developing world. Reporters sans frontières for instance (international but HQed in Paris) ranks the US 56th in press freedom.

Fair enough.

dv said:

party_pants said:

dv said:

I’ve snapped all countries here with scores over 70.

Australia is tied for 22nd, and US is tied for 66th.

Our fleecegrabbing friends across the ditch nabbed silver and I’m sure we’re very happy for them.

Does it give any specifics about how Australia could improve the score?

The 2026 report for Australia is not up yet but the score is unchanged from the 2025 job. Here are some snippets from that.

0–60. See the methodology.

Overview
Australia has a strong record of advancing and protecting political rights and civil liberties. Challenges to these freedoms include the threat of foreign political influence, harsh policies toward asylum seekers, de facto discrimination against LGBT+ people, legal constraints on the press, and ongoing difficulties in ensuring the equal rights of First Nations Australians.

The government continued to introduce new immigration laws to bolster its powers following a 2023 court decision that banned the indefinite detention of asylum seekers and recognized refugees. In late November, Parliament enacted three laws that restricted immigration detainees’ access to mobile phones, set criminal penalties for failed asylum seekers and others who refuse to cooperate with their own deportations, and facilitated deportations to third countries.

In August, Parliament enacted legislation that enabled Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party government to place the construction wing of one of Australia’s largest unions, the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU), into administration based on allegations—untested in court—that it had links to organized crime. The government-appointed administrators, who were installed later that month, were empowered to fire union employees and expel members, alter the CFMEU’s internal rules, and disqualify union officers for up to five years. The takeover prompted street protests in major cities in September, and it came as the union movement sought to reverse a long-term decline in membership; while only 13.1 percent of Australian workers were union members as of August, down from about 40 percent in 1992, this represented an increase from 12.5 percent in 2022.

The lLbor party is becoming more and more like the Liberal every day, they’re not there yet but they are well on their way.
Good on them for seeing the light.

party_pants said:

Bubblecar said:

Any particular reason why this American organisation should be regarded as an authoritative arbiter?

A long track record over several decades, and a well trained and experienced cohort of staff.

Trump sacked tlhem all.