Measuring What Matters
The Civic Freedom & Integrity Index (CIFINI) was created to fill a critical gap in global assessments—providing a comprehensive view that goes beyond traditional democracy indices to capture the lived experience of freedom.
While many indices focus on electoral processes or economic freedom, CIFINI uniquely combines civic freedoms with institutional integrity and equality measures, offering a more complete picture of democratic quality and civic wellbeing across 175 nations.
Rather than focusing only on elections or economic performance, CIFINI emphasizes whether people can participate in public life, express themselves freely, trust institutions, and enjoy equal protection regardless of identity.
How CIFINI is Constructed
CIFINI integrates data from leading governance and human rights sources, synthesizing multiple indicators into a single composite score. The index evaluates six key dimensions:
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Corruption Control
Measures the extent to which public power is exercised for private gain, including petty and grand corruption, as well as "capture" of the state by elites and private interests.
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Rule of Law
Captures perceptions of the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, and the courts.
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Civil & Political Rights
Evaluates freedoms of expression, association, assembly, and political participation, including the right to vote, run for office, and engage in political activities.
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Press Freedom
Assesses the degree of freedom available to journalists and media organizations, including independence from political and economic pressures.
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Equality Before the Law
Measures whether individuals receive equal treatment regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion, or socioeconomic status in legal and institutional contexts.
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Democratic Accountability
Evaluates mechanisms for holding governments accountable, including electoral integrity, legislative oversight, and institutional checks on executive power.
Building on Established Research
CIFINI integrates and synthesizes data from internationally recognized governance and human rights organizations. Our methodology draws on the following primary sources:
Worldwide Governance Indicators
Provides data on control of corruption, rule of law, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality across 200+ countries.
Freedom in the World
Annual assessment of political rights and civil liberties, evaluating electoral processes, political pluralism, and freedom of expression.
World Press Freedom Index
Measures the degree of freedom available to journalists, evaluating pluralism, media independence, and the safety of journalists.
Varieties of Democracy
Comprehensive database measuring multiple dimensions of democracy, including electoral, liberal, participatory, and egalitarian components.
Corruption Perceptions Index
Annual ranking of countries by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, based on expert assessments and opinion surveys.
Human Development Index
Composite measure of life expectancy, education, and per capita income, providing context for civic capacity and human flourishing.
Methodological Notes
All source data is normalized to a 0-100 scale before integration. The final CIFINI score represents a weighted composite of the six dimensions, with each dimension contributing based on its theoretical importance to civic freedom and institutional integrity.
Scores are updated annually as source data becomes available. The 2024-2025 edition reflects the most recent available data from each source organization, typically covering the 2023-2024 period.
Data Acknowledgment
CIFINI integrates and synthesizes data from the following sources. We gratefully acknowledge these organizations for making their research publicly available:
- • World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
- • Freedom House — Freedom in the World Report
- • Reporters Without Borders — World Press Freedom Index
- • V-Dem Institute — Varieties of Democracy Dataset (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- • Transparency International — Corruption Perceptions Index
- • United Nations — Human Development Index
CIFINI is an independent composite index. The source organizations listed above are not affiliated with CIFINI and bear no responsibility for its methodology, scores, or conclusions.
Download the Complete Report
Access the full CIFINI 2024–2025 report with complete rankings, methodology details, and analysis for all 175 countries.
View Full Report →About the Author
Ville Schölin
Ville Schölin is the creator and principal researcher behind the Civic Freedom & Integrity Index. With a commitment to making governance data accessible and meaningful, Ville developed CIFINI to provide a comprehensive measure of civic freedom that goes beyond traditional democracy indices.
The CIFINI project represents a dedication to transparency, rigorous methodology, and the belief that understanding civic freedom is essential for promoting democratic resilience worldwide.
How to Cite CIFINI
If you use CIFINI data in academic research, reports, or publications, please cite it as follows:
APA Style
Schölin, V. (2025). Civic Freedom & Integrity Index (CIFINI) 2024–2025. Retrieved from https://cifini.org
BibTeX
@misc{cifini2025,
author = {Schölin, Ville},
title = {Civic Freedom & Integrity Index (CIFINI) 2024–2025},
year = {2025},
url = {https://cifini.org}
}
License & Usage
CIFINI data is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This means you are free to:
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Share — copy and redistribute the data in any medium or format
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Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the data for any purpose, including commercial
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Attribution required — you must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made
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ShareAlike — if you remix, transform, or build upon the data, you must distribute your contributions under the same license
Contact
For inquiries about methodology, data partnerships, academic collaborations, or media requests: