The Politics Ledger

Who Governs the World

The leaders, parties and parliaments of 47 nations, how their systems work, how free they are, how they got here, and the political cultures and philosophies that hold them together.

Updated todaysource: Curated
curated|
Updated todaysource: Curated
estimate|
Updated livesource: World Bank
Politics Ledger key figures
16%
14%
46%
24%
Liberal democracy: 18 countries · 1.04bn peopleElectoral democracy: 10 countries · 0.88bn peopleElectoral autocracy: 14 countries · 2.96bn peopleClosed autocracy: 5 countries · 1.56bn people
Living in democracies
30%
of the 47 countries' population (V-Dem regime types)
New leaders
8
took power in the last 12 months
Elections ahead
16
national votes in the next 12 months
Minority governments
11
governing without a lower-house majority
Longest in power
27 yrs
Mohammed VI (Morocco)
Average governance score
55/100
composite of EIU, FH, V-Dem, RSF, CPI
Latest results
Israel2026-10
No bloc reached 61. Likud first on 27; Arab lists won 18-19, leaving coalition-building uncertain.
Brazil2026-10
Lula won a fourth term with 51.8% against Flávio Bolsonaro (48.2%), after trailing in the first round on 4 October.
Morocco2026-09
PAM won 97 seats, ending RNI's lead; El Mansouri became the first woman head of government.
Russia2026-09
United Russia won 349 of 450 seats on an official 59.8% turnout; independent monitors reported pervasive irregularities and online voting manipulation.
Sweden2026-09
Social Democrats first with 99 seats, but neither bloc has a clear majority; Andersson's nomination was rejected 248-99 on 15 October.
Colombia2026-06
De la Espriella, a hardline outsider, defeated the left's Iván Cepeda, ending Petro's left-wing government.
Ethiopia2026-06
Prosperity Party won 438 of 501 contested seats; voting not held in Tigray and parts of conflict regions.
Vietnam2026-03
Party-approved candidates won nearly all seats; Tô Lâm combined the party and state top posts after the 14th Party Congress.

What changed in the last 12 months

to 2026-10-29
Quiz

Find your political match

Answer twelve statements on the economy and society, see where you land on the ideological map, and find the parties and governments across 47 countries closest to your views.

Take the 2-minute quiz →
Chapter 1

The World's Regimes

Democracy, electoral authoritarianism and closed autocracy, mapped. Switch layers to see systems of government or any of six governance indices; click any country to open its political profile.

Chapter 2

Who Rules

The people who hold executive power, the parties behind them and how firmly they hold parliament. Sort by tenure to find the longest-serving rulers, or by seat share to find the most fragile governments.

Chapter 3

How They Govern

Constitutional design shapes everything from coalition-building to how quickly a leader can be removed. Group the 47 countries by system of government, territorial structure, electoral rules or constitutional age.

Chapter 4

The Ideological Map

Each dot is a government, placed by the seat-weighted economic and social positions of its governing parties. Switch to the whole legislature to see where each parliament's centre of gravity lies.

Chapter 5

Election Calendar

Every scheduled national vote across the 47 countries, and what happened in the last 18 months. Approximate dates mark the latest date allowed by law where no date has been set.

Country political profiles

ArgentinaAustraliaBangladeshBelgiumBrazilCanadaChileChinaColombiaEgyptEthiopiaFranceGermanyGhanaGreeceIndiaIndonesiaIranIsraelItalyJapanKenyaMexicoMoroccoNetherlandsNigeriaNorwayPakistanPhilippinesPolandPortugalQatarRussiaSaudi ArabiaSingaporeSouth AfricaSouth KoreaSpainSwedenSwitzerlandThailandTürkiyeUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUnited StatesVietnam

Leadership and parliaments: verified against national parliaments, election commissions and wire reporting as of 2026-10-29. Seat counts are for the lower or sole chamber; some are approximate where defections and vacancies change totals between elections.

Indices (approximate): EIU Democracy Index 2024 · Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2025 · RSF World Press Freedom Index 2025 · Transparency International CPI 2024 · IPU Parline, 2026 · V-Dem v15 Liberal Democracy Index (approximate five-year readings). Regime types follow V-Dem's Regimes of the World classification. Party placements on the ideological map are editorial estimates.

Live series (World Bank WGI): GOV_WGI_VA.EST, GOV_WGI_PV.EST, GOV_WGI_GE.EST, GOV_WGI_RQ.EST, GOV_WGI_RL.EST, GOV_WGI_CC.EST. All data sources →

History, culture and philosophy summaries aim to be neutral and descriptive; contested claims are attributed. Suggestions and corrections are welcome.

Learn the basics: Presidential vs parliamentary systems · How democracy is measured · Embed these charts