# V-Dem Democracy Indices — Country-Year v16 (`memo23/vdem-democracy-indices`) Actor

V-Dem v16 democracy indices for every country, 1789-2025: the 5 democracy indices, corruption, rule of law, civil liberties and 56 more, with confidence bounds and regime type. No sign-up form. JSON or CSV out.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/memo23/vdem-democracy-indices.md
- **Developed by:** [Muhamed Didovic](https://apify.com/memo23) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $10.00 / 1,000 scraped items

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

<p align="center"><img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/muhamed-didovic/muhamed-didovic.github.io/main/assets/vdem-logo.png" width="140" alt="V-Dem Democracy Indices"></p>

## V-Dem Democracy Indices: Country-Year Data, 1789-2025

Get the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem v16) indices for every country and year from 1789 to 2025 as clean rows: the five democracy indices (electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian), corruption, rule of law, civil liberties, media freedom, women's empowerment and more. 64 indices in all, each with V-Dem's confidence bounds, plus the Regimes of the World classification.

No sign-up form, no email, no CSV wrangling. Pick countries, years and variables and get one row per country-year.

### Why use this actor

- **Ready to analyse.** One row per country-year, indices keyed by their V-Dem names (`v2x_polyarchy`, `v2x_libdem`, `v2x_corr`...), values rounded to V-Dem's three decimals.
- **Regime type included.** Each row says whether the country was a closed autocracy, electoral autocracy, electoral democracy or liberal democracy that year.
- **Confidence bounds on request.** Turn on `includeConfidenceBounds` to get `<variable>_low` and `<variable>_high` (V-Dem's 68% interval).
- **Fast and light.** Only the columns you ask for are downloaded. A typical run finishes in seconds.
- **Country names or ISO codes.** `"Sweden"`, `"USA"` and `"hun"` all work.

### Where the data comes from

V-Dem v16 (released March 2026) as republished by [Our World in Data](https://ourworldindata.org/democracy) (dataset version 2026-03-17). OWID publishes the main V-Dem indices as open data; the official v-dem.net download asks for personal details before it hands out a file, which an automated tool should not fill in on your behalf. The trade-off: this actor covers the 64 indices OWID republishes, not every one of V-Dem's ~500 raw indicators.

Please cite both sources when you publish results: Coppedge et al., V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v16, Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, and Our World in Data.

### How it works

<p align="center"><img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/muhamed-didovic/muhamed-didovic.github.io/main/assets/how-it-works-vdem.png" width="900" alt="How it works"></p>

1. You provide country names/ISO codes, years, and the V-Dem variables you want.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| `countries` | array | all | Country names or ISO 3-letter codes. |
| `years` | array | all | Specific years, e.g. `["2025", "2024"]`. |
| `yearFrom` / `yearTo` | integer | - | A year range instead of a list. |
| `variables` | array | 10 key indices | V-Dem variable names, index names, or `"all"`. |
| `includeConfidenceBounds` | boolean | false | Adds `_low` / `_high` columns. |
| `includeRegimeType` | boolean | true | Adds `regime` (0-3) and `regimeLabel`. |
| `includeRegions` | boolean | false | Adds world and continent averages when no countries are named. |
| `maxItems` | integer | 10000 | Row cap. Rows come newest year first. |

Example:

```json
{
  "countries": ["Sweden", "United States", "Hungary"],
  "yearFrom": 2015,
  "variables": ["v2x_polyarchy", "v2x_libdem", "v2x_corr"],
  "includeConfidenceBounds": true
}
```

When `variables` is empty you get: `v2x_polyarchy`, `v2x_libdem`, `v2x_partipdem`, `v2x_delibdem`, `v2x_egaldem`, `v2x_civlib`, `v2x_corr`, `v2x_rule`, `v2x_freexp_altinf`, `v2x_jucon`.

### Output

```json
{
  "country": "Hungary",
  "countryCode": "HUN",
  "isRegion": false,
  "year": 2025,
  "regime": 1,
  "regimeLabel": "electoral autocracy",
  "v2x_polyarchy": 0.421,
  "v2x_polyarchy_low": 0.362,
  "v2x_polyarchy_high": 0.463,
  "v2x_libdem": 0.315,
  "v2x_corr": 0.488,
  "source": "V-Dem v16 via Our World in Data (2026-03-17)"
}
```

Most indices run from 0 (low) to 1 (high). Corruption indices are reversed: higher means more corrupt. A few V-Dem measurement-model scores (e.g. `v2mebias`, `v2cacamps`) are on a roughly -5 to 5 scale.

### Available variables

| Variable | Index |
|---|---|
| `v2x_civlib` | Civil liberties index |
| `v2xcs_ccsi` | Core civil society index |
| `v2x_cspart` | Civil society participation index |
| `v2x_execorr` | Executive corruption index |
| `v2jucorrdc` | Judicial corruption score |
| `v2lgcrrpt` | Legislative corruption score |
| `v2x_pubcorr` | Public sector corruption index |
| `v2x_corr` | Political corruption index |
| `v2dlcountr` | Respect for counterarguments |
| `v2xdl_delib` | Deliberative political institutions index |
| `v2x_delibdem` | Deliberative democracy index |
| `v2svdomaut` | Domestic policymaking free from foreign influence |
| `v2x_egal` | Egalitarian political institutions index |
| `v2x_egaldem` | Egalitarian democracy index |
| `v2x_polyarchy` | Electoral democracy index |
| `v2xel_frefair` | Clean elections index |
| `v2dlconslt` | Elite consultation |
| `v2xeg_eqaccess` | Equal access to power index |
| `v2xeg_eqdr` | Equal resource distribution index |
| `v2xeg_eqprotec` | Equal rights protection index |
| `v2x_frassoc_thick` | Freedom of association thick index |
| `v2x_freexp_altinf` | Freedom of expression and alternative sources of information index |
| `v2xcl_rol` | Equality before the law and individual liberty index |
| `v2svinlaut` | Foreign policymaking free from foreign influence |
| `v2x_jucon` | Judicial constraints on the executive index |
| `v2dlcommon` | Common good justifications |
| `v2dlreason` | Justified political positions |
| `v2xlg_legcon` | Legislative constraints on the executive index |
| `v2x_liberal` | Liberal component index |
| `v2x_libdem` | Liberal democracy index |
| `v2xel_locelec` | Elected local governments |
| `v2x_partip` | Participatory political institutions |
| `v2x_partipdem` | Participatory democracy index |
| `v2xnp_pres` | Presidentialism index |
| `v2x_clphy` | Physical violence index |
| `v2x_clpol` | Political civil liberties index |
| `v2x_clpriv` | Private civil liberties index |
| `v2clrspct` | Rigorous and impartial public administration |
| `v2xel_regelec` | Elected regional governments |
| `v2x_rule` | Rule of law index |
| `v2dlengage` | Engaged society |
| `v2clsocgrp` | Equality of civil liberties across social groups |
| `v2pepwrsoc` | Equality of political power across social groups |
| `v2svstterr` | Territory under state control |
| `v2caautmob` | Mass mobilization for autocracy |
| `v2cacamps` | Political polarization score |
| `v2cademmob` | Mass mobilization for democracy |
| `v2cagenmob` | Mass mobilization |
| `v2caviol` | Political violence by non-state actors |
| `v2elvotbuy` | Election vote buying |
| `v2mebias` | Media bias |
| `v2mecenefm` | Government censorship of the media |
| `v2mecorrpt` | Media corruption score |
| `v2meharjrn` | Journalist harassment |
| `v2meslfcen` | Self-censorship of the media |
| `v2smgovdom` | Government dissemination of false information domestic |
| `v2xca_academ` | Academic freedom index |
| `v2xcl_prpty` | Property rights |
| `v2xnp_client` | Clientelism index |
| `v2x_gencl` | Women's civil rights index |
| `v2x_gencs` | Women's civil society participation index |
| `v2x_gender` | Women's political empowerment index |
| `v2lgfemleg` | Lower chamber female legislators |
| `v2x_genpp` | Women's political participation index |

### Use cases

- Political risk and country screening for investment, supply chains or insurance.
- Academic and policy research: panel data for regressions, trend charts, before/after comparisons.
- Journalism: how a country's democracy scores moved after an election or a crackdown.
- Dashboards and AI agents that need a structured democracy measure per country.

### FAQ

**How current is it?** V-Dem v16 covers up to 2025. V-Dem releases once a year (usually March); OWID follows within weeks, and the actor will move to the new release.

**Can I get V-Dem variables that are not in the list?** Not from this actor. Those are only in the official download from v-dem.net.

**Are values identical to V-Dem's own files?** Yes, OWID republishes V-Dem's estimates. Values here are rounded to three decimals.

### For AI agents and LLM apps

Call the actor with `countries`, `yearFrom`/`yearTo` and `variables` and read the dataset: every row is flat JSON with stable keys (V-Dem variable names), so it drops straight into a table, a dataframe or a prompt.

### Disclaimer

V-Dem data is published by the V-Dem Institute (University of Gothenburg) and republished by Our World in Data under CC BY. This actor is not affiliated with either. Cite the original sources when you use the data.

# Actor input Schema

## `countries` (type: `array`):

Country names or ISO 3-letter codes (e.g. "Sweden", "USA"). Leave empty for every country.

## `years` (type: `array`):

Specific years to include (e.g. 2025, 2024). Leave empty to use the year range below, or every year.

## `yearFrom` (type: `integer`):

First year to include (V-Dem starts in 1789).

## `yearTo` (type: `integer`):

Last year to include (the latest data is 2025).

## `variables` (type: `array`):

V-Dem variable names (e.g. v2x_polyarchy, v2x_libdem, v2x_corr) or "all" for all 64 indices. Leave empty for the five democracy indices plus civil liberties, corruption, rule of law, freedom of expression and judicial constraints.

## `includeConfidenceBounds` (type: `boolean`):

Add <variable>\_low and <variable>\_high columns with V-Dem's 68% interval around each estimate.

## `includeRegimeType` (type: `boolean`):

Add the Regimes of the World classification: closed autocracy, electoral autocracy, electoral democracy or liberal democracy.

## `includeRegions` (type: `boolean`):

Also output world and continent averages (e.g. "World", "Europe (population-weighted)") when no countries are named.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of country-year rows to output.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "countries": [
    "Sweden",
    "United States",
    "Hungary"
  ],
  "years": [
    "2025",
    "2024"
  ],
  "includeConfidenceBounds": false,
  "includeRegimeType": true,
  "includeRegions": false,
  "maxItems": 10000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "countries": [
        "Sweden",
        "United States",
        "Hungary"
    ],
    "years": [
        "2025",
        "2024"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("memo23/vdem-democracy-indices").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "countries": [
        "Sweden",
        "United States",
        "Hungary",
    ],
    "years": [
        "2025",
        "2024",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("memo23/vdem-democracy-indices").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "countries": [
    "Sweden",
    "United States",
    "Hungary"
  ],
  "years": [
    "2025",
    "2024"
  ]
}' |
apify call memo23/vdem-democracy-indices --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,memo23/vdem-democracy-indices"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/NeWPDdjFmb4rfO0W9/builds/cEZ2SGPMkuICmSuBt/openapi.json