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Public Policy
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Economic performance
Social welfare
Population/Migration
The environment
Civil liberties, rights, and
freedoms
Economic Performance
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
This is the Purchasing Power Parity adjustment for the countries of the
world as of 2003. The U.S. economy is used as a reference or benchmark,
so that country is set at 100. Bermuda has the highest index value, 154,
thus goods sold there are more expensive than in the United States.
Social Welfare: Health Care
Social Welfare: Public Health
Social Welfare: Education
Population and Migration
Population and Migration
The Environment
HDI = Human Development Index
HDI ranks countries by level of development. The HDI value is composed
of the following data: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling,
expected years of schooling, and income index or GDP per capita. The
higher the value, the more developed the country.
The Gini Index
Differences in national income equality around the world are measured by the
national Gini coefficient. The Gini coefficient is a number between 0 and 1,
where 0 corresponds with perfect equality (where everyone has the same
income) and 1 corresponds with perfect inequality (where one person has all the
income, and everyone else has zero income). The Gini Index does not measure
levels of poverty—it measures a country’s the distribution of wealth.
Civil Liberties
Freedom House Index
United States
Political Rights Score:
Status:
Civil Rights Score:
Great Britain
Political Rights Score:
Status:
Civil Rights Score:
Russia
Political Rights Score:
Status:
Civil Rights Score:
China
Political Rights Score:
Status:
Civil Rights Score:
Mexico
Political Rights Score:
Status:
Civil Rights Score:
Iran
Political Rights Score:
Status:
Civil Rights Score:
Nigeria
Political Rights Score:
Status:
Civil Rights Score:
What makes a country “partly free” or “not free”?
Post-Materialist Values
• the political culture in advanced
democracies reflects an emphasis on
these “post-modern” or “postmaterialist” values:
• secularism: non-religious life
• materialism: valuing concrete objects
and possessions
• technology: nuclear disarmament
• ecology: preservation of the
environment
• freedom and equality of the individual