Countries & Political Systems

Indicators and Systems

Political Handbook of the World This link opens in a new window
Information on the major aspects of each country's government and political party system, including: heads of government, heads of state, ambassadors, historical trends, regime changes, constitutional history, and regional and global policy issues of concern.

Database of Political Institutions
Institutional and electoral results data such as measures of checks and balances, tenure and stability of the government, identification of party affiliation and ideology, and fragmentation of opposition and government parties in the legislature, among others.
Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem)
Indices of democracy grouped by levels: electoral, liberal, participatory, majoritarian, consensual, deliberative, and egalitarian.

Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
To conduct research on a country, scroll down to Guided Search and select Country Info. Click on the dropdown menu under Which Country? and select the desired country. Next, select one of the source options from the Choose a Source dropdown menu. You have the option to search Recent News Stories, Country Risk Overviews, Political Risk Overviews, and Economic Overviews.

Political Risk Yearbook
Published annually, every report in the Yearbook is updated each year to include the latest report for each country, as of December of the previous year. Search the library catalog with [political risk yearbook AND [country]].
Quality of Government Dataset
Compiles a wide range of freely available data on the causes, consequences, and nature of good governance and Quality of Government (QoG) - that is, trustworthy, reliable, impartial, uncorrupt, and competent government institutions.
Corruption Perception Index
The CPI scores and ranks countries/territories based on how corrupt a country’s public sector is perceived to be by experts and business executives.
Comparative Political Data Set
Annual data for 36 democratic countries for the period of 1960 to 2020 or since their transition to democracy.
Rule of Law Index
Measures how the rule of law is experienced and perceived worldwide.
Political Data Yearbook
Election results, national referenda, changes in government, and institutional reforms

OECD iLibrary Statistics This link opens in a new window
Statistics and reports from the online library of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,

Manifestos Project
Covers over 1000 parties from 1945 until today in over 50 countries on five continents.
Comparative Agendas Project
Trace policy changes and outcomes over time, starting in the 1940s
Comparative Campaign Dynamics Dataset
Dataset on ideological cohesion and ambiguity of party positions
Correlates of State Policy
Annual, state-level data covering topics such as politics and partisanship, economics, criminal justice, demographics, policies and regulations, and health.

ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
Congressional publications, legislative histories, member biographies, committee assignments, voting records, and financial data; and the full text of key regulatory and statutory resources.

IPU Parline
Structure and working methods of 261 parliamentary chambers in all of the 186 countries where a national legislature exists

Democratic Electoral Systems Around the World
including regime type, the electoral formula, the average and median district magnitude, the number of constituencies and upper tier seats, and assembly size.
Comparative Studies of Electoral Systems | CSES
Cross-national research among election studies conducted in over fifty countries.
Constituency-Level Elections Archive | CLEA
Results of approximately 1600 elections from 130+ countries at a constituency level for lower house national legislative elections. Includes votes received by each candidate/party, total votes cast, number of eligible voters, and seat figures where available.
IDEA Voter Turnout Database
Voter turnout from presidential and parliamentary elections.
European Election Database
Date Range | 1990 - present
European Election Studies
Electoral participation and voting behavior in European Parliament elections.
World Political Cleavages and Inequality Database | WPID
Political cleavages and social inequalities in electoral democracies
ACE Electoral Knowledge
Comparative data on the cost and administration of elections.
ParlGov - Parliaments and Governments Database
Election and party information for all EU and most OECD democracies.

Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research | INSCR
Contains datasets on armed conflict and internation, regime authority characteristics, and state fragility.
Correlates of War
Datsets regarding international relations.
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute | SIPRI
Research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.