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Course: World History Project - 1750 to the Present > Unit 6
Lesson 1: Unit 6 Overview | 6.0READ: Data Exploration – Democracy
For most of human history, democracy was pretty rare. Starting in the nineteenth century, this started to change as more democracies emerged from revolutions. During the twentieth century, two world wars, decolonization, and the end of the Cold War all helped propel democratic governments to power. Today, more people live in democracies than not, and most governments in the world are democratic. However, this transition to majority democracies only happened very recently.
The data exploration article below uses “Three Close Reads”. If you want to learn more about this strategy, click here.
First read: preview – what do we have?
This will be your quickest read. It should help you get the general idea of what this chart is about and the information it contains. Pay attention to:
- Labels and titles. What is the title? How are the axes labeled? Is anything else on the chart labeled?
- Data representation. How many variables are there and what are they? What are the scales? What time period does the chart cover? Is the chart interactive?
- Data source. Where did the data for this chart come from? Do you trust it? Who created the chart?
Second read: key ideas – what do we know?
In this read, you will pay attention to the information that most helps you understand the chart and the information it is trying to convey. Pay attention to:
- Claim(s). What can you say about the data? What story does it tell? Can you make any claims about this data? Does it change when you zoom in compared to when you look at the data as a whole?
- Evidence. What data from the chart supports this story? Does this change if you change the scale or variables?
- Presentation. How does the way this chart is presented influence how you read it? Has the author selected certain variables or scales that change the conclusions that can be drawn? Is there anything missing from this chart?
By the end of the second read, you should be able to answer the following questions:
- How are Charts 1 and 2 different?
- According to Charts 1, 2, and 3, when did the transition to most of the world living under democratic governments take place? What events might have contributed to this change?
- Were there any points in history when democracies declined for a sustained period? What caused the drop?
- According to Chart 3, which parts of the world were the most democratic, historically? Which are the most democratic today?
- Do you trust this data? Is there anything that this chart leaves out? Do you see any problems with assigning a “democracy score”?
Third read: making connections – what does this tell us?
The third reading is really about why the chart is important and what it can tell us about the past and help us think about the future. Pay attention to:
- Significance. Why does this matter? Does this impact me, and if so, how? How does it connect what is going on in the world right now? How does it relate to what was happening at the time it was created?
- Back to the future. How does this data compare to today? Based on what you now know, what are your thoughts on this phenomenon 25 years, 50 years, and 100 years from now?
At the end of the third read, you should be able to respond to these questions:
- Why do these charts matter? What do they tell us about the history and future of human communities and governance? Is our current democratic moment just a blip in a long history of autocracy?
- Using these charts, make one prediction about how democracy will change in your lifetime. What evidence from the charts supports your prediction? What evidence challenges it?
Now that you know what to look for, it’s time to read! Remember to return to these questions once you’ve finished reading.
Democracy Data Introduction
By Max Roser, adapted by Mike Papritz and Trevor R. Getz
Today, most people in the world live in democracies, and most governments in the world are democratic. The data shows that this transition to democracy happened only recently.
Introduction
A democracy is a political system that gives citizens an opportunity to express their political preferences. Generally, democracies place checks and balances on the branches of government and guarantee civil liberties. In this data exploration, we will look at trends in the number of democracies in the world. The majority of the world’s countries are now democracies. Yet historically, democracies were very rare.
Chart 1 records trends in the number of democratic states in the world over time, from 1900 onward. The chart records both the number of democracies and the number of autocracies. Democracies are political systems whereby the population can state their preferences for a governing party or leader—such as through an election. In contrast, autocracies are systems where a single leader or party has absolute power without being elected or chosen by the population of a given country.
There are more democratic governments in the world today than autocracies. But does that mean that there has been a straightforward, uncomplicated growth of democracy over time? Or was history more complicated?
The spread of democracy
The end of World War I led to the birth of many democracies. However, during the 1930s, many of these young democracies then reverted to being autocratic. After World War II, the number of democracies began growing again. It was the decline and fall of the Soviet Union beginning in the late 1980s that led to a more dramatic increase in the number of democracies. But Chart 1 only records the number of democracies in the world. It doesn’t show us how many people lived in them. Chart 2 below divides the world into six different types of government and shows the number of people in the world governed under each.
During the nineteenth century, most of the world’s population lived in colonial empires, autocracies, or anocracies (a form of government that is part democracy, part autocracy). The late nineteenth century saw a limited expansion of democracies. And since that time, there has been a general upward trend in the share of the world population living under democracies, except for the period before and during World War II. During the second half of the twentieth century, colonies gained independence and more countries became democracies. Today, more than half the world’s population live in a democracy. Of those who still live in autocracies, four-fifths are Chinese.
Another way to look at this kind of data is through a dynamic map, which also shows changes over time. The map below uses data called a “Democracy Score” to rate the degree to which a country is a democracy from a score of -10 (an autocracy, not at all democratic) to +10 (a full democracy). Here, only data for 2015 is shown, but you can use the slider (found at the link below) to move across time from the earliest dates represented in the map (1816) to the most recent date (2015).
Most countries in Europe and the Americas are now democracies. Some parts of Africa—especially in the west and the south—have democratized. So too have countries in Asia, with India being the world’s largest democracy. Many countries are full democracies (score of 10), including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Mongolia. Was the world becoming more democratic over the past two centuries? Are these trends still holding true today? What will happen in the future?
Author bio
Max is the founder and director of Our World in Data. He began the project in 2011 and for several years was the sole author, until receiving funding for the formation of a team. Max’s research focuses on poverty, global health, and the distribution of incomes. He is also Programme Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development at the University of Oxford, and Co-executive Director of Global Change Data Lab, the non-profit organization that publishes and maintains the website and the data tools that make OWID’s work possible.
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