Country Information
For more detailed background and analyses, use the profiles prepared by Europa and CQ.
To find comparative statistics, refer to statistical compendia.
To find information and indicators related to constitutions, regime characteristics, levels of peace and press freedom, refer to governance.
Country Profiles
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CIA World Factbook(Searches through citations and the full text)
Information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities. -
CQ Political Handbook of the WorldPolitical history, current issues, recent election trends and results, media information, and key demographic and economic facts.
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Europa World PlusCombines the Europa World Year Book and the nine-volume Europa Regional Surveys of the World series. Provides up-to-date political and economic information for more than 250 countries and territories.
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State Department Background NotesThe State Department profiles each country's economy, history, geography, demographics, and recent political history.
Statistical Compendia
Compare countries on different measures (literacy, GDP, population) by using statistical compendia (collections of and directories to statistical sources).
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WDI: World Development IndicatorsOver 1000 indicators for economics, health, demographics, government, and more for the countries of the world.
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Data PlanetSearch by topic across hundreds of datasets. Browse by data producer. Good for determining who has collected the data or statistics.NOTE: does not work on Chrome, use Safari, Firefox or IE.
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UNDataPortal to data and statistics gathered by the United Nation's many statistical agencies. Search across the unified index or link to individual agencies or country data.
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NationmasterThis is a free web, ad-supported site with comparative national statistics. Very useful for brainstorming variables and determining sources.
Governance Information, Indicators, and Datasets
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Comparative Constitutions ProjectThese researchers are collecting data on the characteristics of constitutions.
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Database of Political InstitutionsContains 125 variables primarily measuring electoral rules and the political system.
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Fragile States IndexAnalyzes stability risks of 178 countries against twelve social, economic, and political risks.
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Freedom HousePublishes Freedom in the World and Freedom of the Press, annually assessing civil liberties and media independence in 200 countries and territories.
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Global Peace IndexRanks 144 countries against 23 indicators ranging from military expenditure to respect for human rights.
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Manifesto Project DatabaseThe project is based on quantitative content analyses of parties’ election programs from more than 50 countries covering all free, democratic elections since 1945.
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Polity IVMeasures regime characteristics (democracy/autocracy) for all states over 500,000 from 1800 to 2008.
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V-DemAll countries, 1900-present, on various measures of democracy. Measures these democratic qualities: Electoral, Liberal, Participatory, Majoritarian, Consensual, Deliberative, and Egalitarian. Also provides subcomponent measures re. elections, judiciary, etc.
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Our World in Data -- CorruptionOffers visualizations of data drawn from Transparency International, World Bank, and others regarded political corruption of states around the world.
Comparative Political Data Guide
Looking for more data sources and suggestions?
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Comparative Political DataGould Library's directory of comparative political data sources.
