A CARTOGRAPHIC VIEW OF FREEDOM IN THE WORLD

"THE MAP OF FREEDOM" http://www.democracyweb.org/new-map/

 We have noted the popularity of our link to "40 Maps That Will Change Your View of The World", A Washington Post on line post.  Indeed visitor reaction to this type of cartographic presentation of information has been so strong that we are building a cartographic subsection within our NAVIGATION section. We recently came across a most interesting cartographic representation of human freedom on a global scale that we thought you might like to see. We'll be adding this as a permanent link in our cartography section. Below is a quote from the site describing how they define "freedom" for the purpose of the map presentation:

PD-old-100 Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula (1684) by A. J. Bormeester - See more at: http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/09/22/maps-from-geographicus/#sthash.COOjxAZY.dpuf

"About Freedom in the World

What the Survey measures

The Freedom in the World survey, which has been published since 1972, is an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in every country in the world. The survey divides freedom into two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. Political rights allow people to join political parties and organizations, compete for public office, vote freely for distinct alternative candidates in legitimate elections, and elect representatives who have a real impact on public policies and are accountable to voters. Civil liberties allow for the freedoms of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, rule of law, and personal autonomy, including economic freedom, without interference from the state.

The standards that Freedom in the World uses to measure freedom are based largely on the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that represents the first global expression of rights to which everyone is entitled. These standards are applied to all countries, regardless of their geographical location, ethnic or religious composition, culture, or level of economic development.

Freedom can be affected by both the government and nongovernmental forces, including armed rebel groups, organized crime, and powerful business interests. Therefore, Freedom in the World measures the real-world rights enjoyed by individuals, rather than just the attitude or performance of governments.

Finally, Freedom in the World considers both legal guarantees of rights and the real-world expression of these rights — or practices — when measuring freedom. However, since repressive governments often adopt laws that protect political rights and civil liberties but fail to fully implement them, Freedom in the World places greater importance on actual practices than on laws when measuring freedom........"

GO TO: THE MAP OF FREEDOM