{"id":248981,"date":"2026-03-23T08:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T12:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/?p=248981"},"modified":"2026-03-23T09:52:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T13:52:29","slug":"v-dem-institute-gives-dr-a-high-score-in-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2026\/03\/23\/v-dem-institute-gives-dr-a-high-score-in-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"V-Dem Institute gives DR a high score in democracy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"359\" src=\"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Luis-Abinader-V-Dem-Institute-Presidencia.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-249048\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Luis-Abinader-V-Dem-Institute-Presidencia.png 600w, https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Luis-Abinader-V-Dem-Institute-Presidencia-300x180.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The V-Dem Institute\u2019s Democracy Report 2026 (titled &#8220;Unraveling The Democratic Era?&#8221;), considered one of the most prestigious and statistically rigorous assessments of global governance, gave Dominican Republic high marks. The V-Dem stands for Varieties of Democracy).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report released 17 March 2026 points to \u201ca great reversal\u201d in global democratic standards. The same V-Dem Report data confirms that the Dominican Republic has avoided the &#8220;Autocratization Wave&#8221; currently sweeping 42% of the world. As per the findings of the report, the DR today serves as a regional benchmark for institutional stability in the Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Based at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, the V Dem Report is widely cited by major international organizations (OECD, UN, World Bank), academic researchers, and premier news outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The V-Dem Institute\u2019s 2026 Democracy Report provides a comprehensive statistical breakdown of the Dominican Republic\u2019s governance. While many nations are currently experiencing &#8220;autocratization,&#8221; the Dominican Republic remains a notable regional outlier, maintaining its classification as an Electoral Democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key Findings from the 2026 Report<br>\u2022 Global Decline: Democracy for the average global citizen has regressed to 1978 levels.<br>\u2022 The U.S. Downgrade: For the first time in over 50 years, the United States has lost its status as a &#8220;Liberal Democracy&#8221; and is now classified as an &#8220;Electoral Democracy.&#8221; Its rank dropped from 20th to 51st place globally.<br>\u2022 Autocratization wave: 44 countries are currently in a state of democratic backsliding, affecting 41% of the world&#8217;s population.<br>\u2022 Top performers: Denmark, Sweden, and Norway continue to lead the Liberal Democracy Index (LDI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below are the specific details, rankings, and statistical indicators for the Dominican Republic as of the March 2026 release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Core Indices and Global Rankings:  The Dominican Republic is evaluated across several high-level indices. The scores range from 0 (lowest) to 1 (highest). The DR ranked 0.48 in the Liberal Democracy Index (LDI). The country ranked 64th out of 179 countries in the Global Rank. Moreover, the DR is regarded as a stable country. It has maintained a consistent score since 2020, avoiding the &#8220;gray zone&#8221; of democratic backsliding seen in neighboring nations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Electoral Democracy Index (EDI), the DR scored 0.69 for a global rank of 58th of 179 countries. This relatively high score reflects the country&#8217;s success in holding free and fair periodic elections and the relative independence of the Central Electoral Board (JCE).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In regards to the Liberal Component Index, the DR scored 0.55. This measures the protection of individual liberties and the legislative\/judicial oversight of the executive branch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key performance indicators <br>The 2026 report highlights several areas where the Dominican Republic shows institutional resilience compared to the Latin American average. Among these:<br>\u2022 Anti-Corruption &amp; Transparency: The report notes that the DR continues to benefit from the &#8220;2020 Pivot,&#8221; where judicial independence was prioritized. The country\u2019s &#8220;Clean Elections&#8221; score remains among the highest in the Caribbean.<br>\u2022 Freedom of Expression: Scored at 0.82. The report highlights a vibrant media landscape, though it cautions about occasional &#8220;economic pressure&#8221; on smaller media outlets.<br>\u2022 Rule of Law: Consistent with the 2025 World Justice Project findings, V-Dem 2026 recognizes the DR for its &#8220;constrained government powers,&#8221; meaning the President&#8217;s actions are effectively checked by the judiciary and the press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why is the V-Dem Report so prestigious?<br>The V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) project is distinct because of its scale and methodology:<br>The institute manages a massive dataset of over 32 million data points, the largest of its kind, covering 202 countries from 1789 to 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Likewise, it relies on expert consensus: Instead of relying on a small internal team, the report uses a network of over 4,200 scholars and experts from 180 countries to ensure local accuracy and minimize bias. Furthermore, it takes a multidimensional approach. Unlike simpler indices, V-Dem breaks democracy down into five distinct high-level principles: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more:<br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.v-dem.net\/documents\/75\/V-Dem_Institute_Democracy_Report_2026_lowres.pdf\">V Dem Report 2026 <\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/presidencia.gob.do\/noticias\/presidente-abinader-posiciona-republica-dominicana-como-ejemplo-democratico-global-revela\">Presidency <\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/listindiario.com\/la-republica\/gobierno\/20260320\/informe-destaca-posicion-democracia-rd_898588.html\">Listin Diario <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>23 March 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The V-Dem Institute\u2019s Democracy Report 2026 (titled &#8220;Unraveling The Democratic Era?&#8221;), considered one of the most prestigious and statistically rigorous assessments of global governance, gave Dominican Republic high marks. The V-Dem stands for Varieties of Democracy). The report released 17 March 2026 points to \u201ca great reversal\u201d in global democratic standards. The same V-Dem Report &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2026\/03\/23\/v-dem-institute-gives-dr-a-high-score-in-democracy\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read more\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[340,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248981"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249050,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248981\/revisions\/249050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}