Political Data

The Cross-National Time-Series (CNTS) Data Archive is a longitudinal data set that provides annual country-level data for a wide range of political, economic, and demographic variables. The dataset covers over 200 countries from 1815 to the present. See listings of all coverage and data points.

 Data Planet by SAGE Publishers is a comprehensive statistical database offering an extensive collection of authoritative data across diverse subjects, including economics, demographics, healthcare, crime, education, and energy. With over 70 billion data points sourced from more than 550 organizations—ranging from government agencies to private entities and international institutions—it provides in-depth global and U.S. statistics spanning multiple disciplines.

Our World in Data (OWID) is a free, open-access online data resource. It is a non-profit project based at the University of Oxford led by Max Roser. The platform collects, visualizes, and analyzes data from reputable sources, such as the United Nations (UN), World Bank, and the  World Health Organization (WHO).

Statista provides data, statistics, and reports on various industries, markets, and consumer trends. It aggregates data from multiple sources, including market research firms, government agencies, industry associations, and company reports. Statista is known for its colorful charts, infographics, and tables. Although some data and charts are free, a subscription is necessary to access premium reports, downloadable datasets, and additional research tools.

ProQuest Statistical Insight provides over a million statistics, tables, statistical reports, publication abstracts, and datasets from more than 22,500 sources. The database provides statistical data from U.S. federal agencies, state governments, private organizations, and major intergovernmental organizations such as the UN, OECD, and EU.

Harvard Dataverse is an open-access data repository developed and maintained by Harvard University that allows researchers to share, store, cite, and explore research data across multiple disciplines. It is part of the Dataverse Project, an open-source platform institutions use worldwide to manage and disseminate datasets. Although anyone can search for and download datasets, some may restricted.

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is a global consortium of more than 810 academic institutions and organizations that provides access to an extensive social science data repository. Based at the University of Michigan, the ICPSR offers access to datasets in most areas of social science research, including political science, sociology, economics, education, public health, and criminal justice.

Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) is a collaborative research project that combines national election studies from around the globe, providing a cross-national, public dataset that analyzes and compares electoral systems, voter behavior, and political institutions.

The European NUTS-Level Election Database (EU-NED) is a dataset of subnational election data offering national and European parliamentary election results aligned with Eurostat’s Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) at levels 2 and 3. Nuts covers all European Union member states and associated countries over 30 years 1990 to 2020, providing consistent and detailed subnational electoral data.

The Manifesto Project Database (MPD) provides political parties’ election manifestos from over 50 countries, covering democratic elections since 1945. The database offers valuable insights into parties’ policy positions and ideological shifts over the past 80 years.

The National Elections Across Democracy and Autocracy (NELDA) dataset is a  resource that compiles detailed information on national election events worldwide from 1945 to 2020. It provides data for national executive positions, such as presidents, and national legislative bodies, including parliaments and constituent assemblies.

The Elections Archive (THEA) (formerly the Constituency-Level Elections Archive) is a repository of subnational election results that provides detailed constituency-level results for both upper- and lower-house elections worldwide. THEA was developed by the University of Michigan’s Center for Political Studies.  

Transparency International (TI) is a global non-governmental organization (NGO) founded in 1993 that focuses on combating corruption and promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity in governments, businesses, and civil society. Transparency International provides several datasets, including the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), which ranks countries based on perceived levels of corruption in the public sector from 1 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean), and the Government Defence Integrity Index (GDI), which measures the risk of corruption in defense and security institutions.

The International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) is a dataset that provides political, economic, and financial risk ratings for countries worldwide. It is produced by the Political Risk Services (PRS) Group and is primarily used to assess the stability and risk levels of different countries. Political indicators provided include corruption, bureaucratic quality, internal conflict, military in politics, and control of political corruption.

CountryData Online from PRS (Political Risk Services Group) is a dataset that provides country-specific political, economic, and financial risk assessments. PRS is known for its International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), which evaluates risk factors that affect investment and economic stability across nations, and Country Reports and Economic Forecasts (CREF).

EIU Viewpoint (formerly Viewswire) is the new EIU platform that combines three products: Country Analysis, Financial Risk, and Operational Risk. Access to individual products depends on an institution’s description. EIU Viewpoint provides political, policy, and economic analysis and data. It includes in-depth country reports, forecasts, analysis, and expert opinions on matters of economic and geopolitical significance.

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is an international organization that promotes economic growth, trade, and policy coordination among its 38 member countries. The OECD collects both economic and political data, though its primary focus is economic analysis, policy recommendations, and governance.

The Quality of Government (QoG) is a research institute based at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, publishing research on good governance, corruption, and public administration. It provides free high-quality, comparative political data on government effectiveness, transparency, and corruption worldwide.

The UN Comtrade Database is a global trade data repository maintained by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). It provides detailed import and export statistics reported back to 1962 of countries worldwide, covering goods and services traded between nations. It includes trade data from over 200 reporting countries and territories classified using the Harmonized System (HS) and Standard International Trade Classification (SITC) codes, allowing for detailed product-level analysis.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTD) is a part of the United Nations Secretariat and focuses on promoting international trade and development, particularly in developing countries. The UNCTD Data Hub provides access to a wide range of global economic and trade data, including international trade and investment, trade in services, financial flows and markets, economic development indicators, and technology and innovation metrics.

World Bank Open Data is a publicly available series of global development datasets produced by the World Bank Group. Each dataset provides a wide range of global development data, including economic, social, and financial datasets from over 200 countries and territories. The data is collected from national statistical agencies, international organizations (IMF, UN), and World Bank research.

The World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) is an online data platform that provides comprehensive trade-related data, tariff data, Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs), data on trade agreements, and indicators & Analytical Tools. It was developed by the World Bank, in collaboration with organizations such as the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the International Trade Centre (ITC), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Developed by the World Bank, the Database of Political Institutions (DPI) provides data on government’s  political and institutional characteristics worldwide, including checks and balances, tenure and stability of the government, identification of party affiliation and ideology, and fragmentation of opposition and government parties in the legislature.

Freedom House is a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the United States that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political rights, and civil liberties worldwide. Freedom House – Countries and Territories provides ratings of citizens’ access to political rights and civil liberties in 210 countries and 15 territories, ranging from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free).

The International Country Risk Guide (ICRG) is a dataset that provides political, economic, and financial risk ratings for countries worldwide. It is produced by the Political Risk Services (PRS) Group and is primarily used to assess the stability and risk levels of different countries. Political indicators provided include corruption, bureaucratic quality, internal conflict, military in politics, and control of political corruption.

The Polity5 is the latest version of the Polity Project, a dataset that measures the level of democracy and autocracy in political systems worldwide from -10 (full autocracy) to +10 (full democracy). It provides annual data on the institutional characteristics of governments, allowing researchers to analyze trends in governance and regime changes across countries.

The Quality of Government (QoG) is a research institute based at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, publishing research on good governance, corruption, and public administration. It provides free high-quality, comparative political data on government effectiveness, transparency, and corruption worldwide.

The Varieties of Democracy (V‑Dem) dataset measures and tracks democracy across the globe. The dataset gathers detailed information on various aspects of democracy—such as electoral processes, liberal institutions, participatory practices, deliberative standards, and egalitarian principles. Users can analyze trends and shifts in democratic governance over time and across nearly 200 countries.

The World Governance Assessment (WGA) is a global initiative that evaluates and analyzes governance quality across various countries. Launched by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the WGA focuses on six key principles of governance: participation, fairness, decency, accountability, transparency, and efficiency.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) tracks political violence and protest events worldwide, including conflict data involving state forces, rebels, militias, civilians, and political groups. Data includes battles and armed clashes, explosions and remote violence, violence against civilians, riots, and protests. The ACLED Conflict Index calculates where conflicts in every country and territory vary according to four indicators – deadliness, danger to civilians, geographic diffusion, and the number of armed groups.

The Global Terrorism Database is a publicly available dataset that records terrorist attacks worldwide since 1970. It provides details such as when and where an attack occurred, who was targeted, and the tactics used, allowing users to track patterns and compare trends over time.