Publication Archives

Freedom House has analyzed challenges to freedom and advocated for greater political rights and civil liberties in a variety of publications over the years. Below, please find past publications and special reports produced in service of Freedom House’s mission of advancing freedom globally. For more information about narratives and data, or to obtain report editions older than those found here, please contact us at[email protected].

Freedom in the World

Freedom in the World, Freedom House's flagship publication, is the standard-setting comparative assessment of global political rights and civil liberties. Published annually since 1972, the survey ratings and narrative reports on 195 countries and 15 related and disputed territories are used by policymakers, the media, international corporations, civic activists, and human rights defenders.

Comparative and Historical Data:

Digital Reports

Students gather in Dhaka, Bangladesh to protest the police and the ruling party, the Awami League.

The Uphill Battle to Safeguard Rights

Freedom in the World

February 26, 2025

Bernardo Arevalo supporters cheer after their presidential victory in Guatemala.

The Mounting Damage of Flawed Elections and Armed Conflict

Freedom in the World

Iranian people in Izmir protest the death of Mahsa Amini by the morality police in Iran.

Marking 50 Years in the Struggle for Democracy

Freedom in the World

Freedom in the World Past Editions

For data files, historic maps, or other archival information regardingFreedom in the World, please email[email protected].

Freedom on the Net

Freedom on the Net is Freedom House’s annual survey and analysis of internet freedom around the world. This cutting-edge project consists of ground-breaking research and analysis, fact-based advocacy, and on-the-ground capacity building.

Digital Reports

An Uncertain Future for the Global Internet

Freedom on the Net

November 13, 2025

The Struggle for Trust Online

Freedom on the Net

October 16, 2024

The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence

Freedom on the Net

October 4, 2023

More Past Editions

Nations in Transit

Nations in Transit was the only comprehensive, comparative, and multidimensional study of reform in the former Communist states of Europe and Eurasia. Nations in Transit tracks the reform record of 29 countries and administrative areas and provides Freedom House's most in-depth data about this vast and important region.

Digital Reports

Polish voters gather for the ''March of a Million Hearts,” a pro-democratic rally in Warsaw that gathered up to 1 million participants on October 1, 2023. (Piotr Lapinski/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A Region Reordered by Autocracy and Democracy

Nations in Transit

Volunteers clean up the rubbles from a destroyed residential building in Borodyanka. Following the recapture of Borodyanka by the Ukrainian forces, the city was heavily devastated and turned into ruins under intense fighting and shelling.

War Deepens a Regional Divide

Nations in Transit

Irpin, Ukraine – March 4, 2022 – Civilians rush to board a train as the sounds of battle draw closer to the city of Irpin. Image credit: Marcus Yam / Contributor, Getty Images

From Democratic Decline to Authoritarian Aggression

Nations in Transit

April 20, 2022

More Past Editions

Transnational Repression

Freedom House is engaged in a multiyear study of transnational repression. Its latest report, Defending Democracy in Exile: Policy Responses to Transnational Repression, published in June 2022, examines what is being done to protect exiles and diaspora members who are being intimidated and attacked by the governments from which they fled. The report assesses the responses mounted by host governments, international organizations, and technology companies. It builds on the findings of Out of Sight, Not Out of Reach: The Global Scale and Scope of Transnational Repression—the first global study of this dangerous practice, which Freedom House released in February 2021.

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Countries at the Crossroads

Countries at the Crossroads, published from 2004 to 2012, was an annual analysis of government performance in 70 strategically important countries that were at a critical crossroads in determining their political futures. The in-depth comparative assessments and quantitative ratings—examining government accountability, civil liberties, rule of law, and anticorruption and transparency efforts—were intended to help international policymakers identify areas of progress, as well as to highlight areas of concern that could be addressed through diplomatic efforts and reform assistance.

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Freedom of the Press

Freedom of the Press, an annual report on media independence around the world, was published between 1980 and 2017, and assessed the degree of print, broadcast, and digital media freedom in 199 countries and territories. It provided numerical scores and country narratives evaluating the legal environment for the media, political pressures that influenced reporting, and economic factors that affected access to news and information.

The first edition of Freedom of the Press covered the year 1979. The historical data are available in Excel format here:

DownloadFreedom of the Press Excel Data

Supporting Democracy Abroad

Supporting Democracy Abroad, covering the period from June 2012 through May 2014, assessed how well 10 leading democratic countries and the European Union promoted democracy and human rights in their foreign policies. Countries selected were regional or global powers on five continents, ranging from long-established democracies to states that became democratic in the last 25 years.

Women's Rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Women’s Rights in the Middle East and North Africa was a comparative assessment of women's rights in those regions, using a methodology encompassing the spectrum of rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The inaugural edition, released in 2005, found that despite some progress toward equality in a number of countries, there was a pervasive gender-based gap in rights and freedoms in every facet of society: the legal framework, the criminal justice system, the economy, education, health care, and the media. An expanded edition of the study was published in 2010.

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Women's Rights in the Middle East and North AfricaComplete Book - Download PDF

Selected Special Reports

Beyond its annual publications, Freedom House also frequently releases policy briefs, white papers, recommendations to policymakers, and other expert research addressing challenges to global freedom.

Visible and Invisible Bars (Jan 2024) —Download PDF(also inSpanish, French, Arabic, Thai, Swahili, Turkish, and Kurdish)
Reviving News Media in an Embattled Europe(June 2023) —Download PDF
How Civic Mobilizations Grow in Authoritarian Contexts (November 2022) —Download PDF
From Crisis to Reform: A Call to Strengthen America’s Battered Democracy (March 2021) —Download PDF
Leaping Over the Firewall: A Review of Censorship Circumvention Tools (March 2010) —Download PDF
Policing Belief: The Impact of Blasphemy Laws on Human Rights (October 2010) —Download PDF
Enabling Environments for Civic Movements and the Dynamics of Democratic Transition (July 2008) —Download PDF
Speak No Evil: Mass Media Control in Contemporary China (February 2006) —Download PDF
Women's Freedom in Focus: Morocco (January 2004) —Download PDF
Sliding Back: An Analysis of Hong Kong's Proposed National Security Legislation (December 2002) —Download PDF
Enhancing US Leadership at the United Nations, Report of an Independent Task Force Sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations and Freedom House (2002) —Download PDF

For more information about or data, narratives, or to obtain editions older than those found here, please contact us at[email protected].

Additional information on Freedom House and its history can be found at the Freedom House Archives of the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University.