Expanding Freedom and Democracy
Freedom House is founded on the core conviction that freedom flourishes in democratic nations where governments are accountable to their people.
The Human Cost of Democratic Decline
Nations in Transit 2024 found that democratic governance declined for the 20th consecutive year in the 29 countries stretching from Central Europe to Central Asia. This decades-long decline has had a real human cost—most gravely in Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh, as autocrats in Russia and Azerbaijan intensified violent aggression abroad in 2023. To protect the most vulnerable, governments within and outside the region should shore up democratic institutions.
Explore Nations in Transit 2024
Read the Report
Democratic governance in the Nations in Transit region declined for the 20th consecutive year in 2023, as the region becomes increasingly defined by the widening gulf between those nations committed to a liberal, democratic order and those that violently reject it. Explore Nations in Transit 2024: A Region Reordered by Autocracy and Democracy.
Explore the Map
Check out our interactive map and learn more about the state of democracy in Nations in Transit's area of focus.
Take the Quiz!
Test your knowledge of some of the key findings from our report by taking our quiz.
Upcoming Events
Forum on Leadership-Human Rights and the New Global Order
10:00AM – 8:00PM
Miami Conference on Global Democracy
2:00PM – 3:15PM
Freedom House 2024 Annual Awards
6:00PM – 10:00PM
Tracking Democracy and Freedom Around the World
After Navalny’s Death, Efforts Must Accelerate to Free Kara-Murza
In response to the death of Russian democratic opposition leader, Alexey Navalny, who died in Russian custody while unjustly incarcerated, Freedom House joins partners in requesting the Biden Administration to accelerate efforts to free imprisoned Russian democracy advocate, Vladimir Kara-Murza.
News & Updates
As Sudan’s Devastating War Enters a Second Year, the Global Response Falls Short
Perspectives
April 18, 2024
Ten years after his arbitrary arrest, NGOs call for Saudi human rights defender Waleed Abu al-Khair to be released
Joint statement
April 15, 2024
Latest Research
Visible and Invisible Bars
Visible and Invisible Bars, a report from Free Them All: The Fred Hiatt Program to Free Political Prisoners, draws attention both to political imprisonment and its damaging impacts on prisoners and their families, and the consequences of civil death.
Freedom on the Net 2023
Advances in artificial intelligence are increasing the scale, speed, and efficiency of digital repression. The 2023 edition of Freedom on the Net is now live.
The China Dissent Monitor
Despite increasingly repressive rule under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), dissent in China occurs regularly and is geographically widespread. The China Dissent Monitor features quarterly updated interactive data on collective action in public spaces and cases of online dissent.
Our Issues
In the Media
Mapping Freedom House's Impact in 2023
In 2023, Freedom House assisted more than 15,000 human rights activists, organizations, journalists, children and youth, and others at-risk more than 90 countries. Here's how we worked to expand and defend freedom across the world over the past year.