France vs United States: Democracy
France
7
in 2025
United States
7
in 2025
France rank
1st
United States rank
1st
Democracy over time
- France
- United States
How they compare
France currently reports 7 against 7 in United States, a difference of 0.
The two have swapped places 10 times across 237 shared years of data; in 1789 it was United States ahead.
France ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 198 countries.
Across the 25 decades both report, France averaged higher in 9 and United States in 10.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | France | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1780s | 0 | 4 | 4 | United States |
| 1790s | 2.1 | 4 | 1.9 | United States |
| 1800s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1810s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1820s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1830s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1840s | 2.6 | 4 | 1.4 | United States |
| 1850s | 2.5 | 4 | 1.5 | United States |
| 1860s | 2 | 4 | 2 | United States |
| 1870s | 5 | 4 | 1 | France |
| 1880s | 5 | 4 | 1 | France |
| 1890s | 5 | 4 | 1 | France |
| 1900s | 5 | 4 | 1 | France |
| 1910s | 5 | 4 | 1 | France |
| 1920s | 5 | 4 | 1 | France |
| 1930s | 5 | 4 | 1 | France |
| 1940s | 2.8 | 4 | 1.2 | United States |
| 1950s | 7 | 4 | 3 | France |
| 1960s | 7 | 5.5 | 1.5 | France |
| 1970s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1980s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 1990s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2000s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2010s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
| 2020s | 7 | 7 | 0 | — |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher democracy, France or United States?
- France, at 7 against 7 in United States as of 2025.
- What is the difference in democracy between France and United States?
- 0, with France ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for France and United States?
- 237 years are reported by both, from 1789 to 2025.
- How do France and United States rank globally for democracy?
- France ranks 1st and United States ranks 1st of 198 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Democracy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies (score 0), one-party autocracies (score 1), multi-party autocracies without elected executive (score 2), multi-party autocracies (score 3), exclusive democracies (score 4), male democracies (score 5), electoral democracies (score 6), and full democracies (score 7).