FAQs

1What is Democracy Web?

Democracy Web is an online extracurricular resource for teachers and students that provides an overview of twelve essential principles of democracy, their history and country studies that examine how a variety of contemporary political systems function with respect to these principles. The site was originally launched in 2009 by Albert Shanker Institute (ASI) as a joint project with the human rights organization Freedom House. It is now being relaunched by ASI the with fully updated content on a new, more usable platform. The updated content reflects the ongoing developments of democracy as well as the many challenges facing it worldwide. The site will be updated annually to keep it current with world events.

2Who Is Democracy Web For?

Democracy Web is designed for use by upper secondary-level and lower college-level students, but teachers at lower secondary-level and even middle school levels have also used it, as have civic and human rights activists around the world. There have been millions of individual users of the Democracy Web site since its launch.

3What Is Democracy Web's Goal?

The goal is to give students a better understanding of democracy through the comparative study of political principles in the framework of a wide array of countries as measured by Freedom House’s annual Freedom in the World survey Each unit has three Country Studies, one each measured as Free, Partly Free and Not Free by Freedom House.

4What Is Democracy Web's Content?

The Study Guide is composed of units, or sections, that focus on key principles of democracy used in Freedom House’s measurements for its annual study. Originally, there were 12 such categories in Freedom House's methodology and Democracy Web is designed around these categories to form 12 separate units to the study guide:  Consent of the Governed, Free Elections, Constitutional Limits, Majority Rule and Minority Rights, Accountability and Transparency, The Multiparty System, Economic Freedom, Rule of Law, Human Rights and three subcomponents: Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Association and Freedom of Religion.

Each unit of the Study Guide includes a discussion of that category’s Essential Principles and History and then includes three Country Studies that represent a Free, Partly Free, and Not Free country to show how that section’s principle works in practice. All of this content can be reached through the Study Guide tab and through specific country searches (through the Country Studies tab). We recommend beginning with the Essential Principles section, but teachers and students may also explore the connections from multiple angles. Extensive Resource lists and ideas for Study Questions are also included in each category section.

The interactive map allows users to click on any country to access its basic information, as well as link to that country's annual Survey of Freedom in the World report and additional surveys, country assessments, or special reports published by Freedom House. Users can also find the Country Studies for the 34 countries selected for study within the Democracy Web.

5How Do I Use Democracy Web?

The Study Guide may be used in whole or in individual units. As well, each unit may be used in whole or in part. We recommend beginning with the Essential Principles section, but teachers and students may also explore the connections from multiple angles. (See "How To Use This Site" for more information and suggestions for how to use the content.")

6Does Democracy Web Have a Curriculum or Lesson Plans

At present, no. Democracy Web is designed as an on-line resource to supplement classes in American and world history, social studies, civics, and political science.  There are Suggested Study Questions and Activities within each unit relating to the Essential Principles, History, and three Country Studies. The Study Questions are designed to review the content. The Activities offer specific suggestions for exploring topics and making assignments, but not lesson plans. The Albert Shanker Institute encourages teachers to develop specific lesson plans around the Study Guide’s different units or around study of specific countries or a set of countries. If teachers do develop lesson plans, please share them by emailing directly vthomas@ashankerinst.org. We will post them on this site with proper attribution.

7What is Freedom in the World?

Freedom in the World is the annual comparative survey of political rights and civil liberties around the globe carried out by the human rights organization Freedom House. The Freedom in the World survey has been published since 1973 and is one of the most respected human rights survey in the world. It examines the extent to which democratic rights and freedoms are enjoyed in 198 countries and territories in the world and categorizes those countries and territories as “Free,” “Partly Free,” and “Not Free.” As a companion to the survey, Freedom House publishes an annual Map of Freedom, which is color coded to show the freedom designation of each country. (The annual reports, map, table and methodology are available through the Freedom in the World web page).

8How Does Freedom House Score Countries?

Originally, the annual survey used 12 broad measures of freedom based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR emerged from the UN’s original Human Rights Commission chaired by one of Freedom House’s co-founder Eleanor Roosevelt. These categories are the basis for the units of the study guide (see above). 

Currently, the survey measures 10 categories for political liberties and 15 for civil liberties for each country or territory. These 25 measures correspond largely to the original 12 categories but also include expanded categories of civil liberties (such as Indigenous, women’s and LGBTQ+ rights). Each of the 25 categories is measured on a 1-4 scale and tabulated on a total 100-point measurement. Free countries are from 70-100, Partly Free from 36-69 and Not Free from 0-35. Freedom House assesses each country’s performance according to determinations made each year by country experts and a panel of evaluators. See link for a full description of the methodology.  

9What is the funding for Democracy Web?

The Albert Shanker Institute and Freedom House received a joint grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the original core funding for this project to develop the initial web page, launched in 2009. It is currently a project of the Albert Shanker, which has provided additional funding for maintaining and updating the contents of the site. The content of the site is the responsibility of the Albert Shanker Institute and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Endowment for the Humanities or of ASI's Board members.

10If I have more questions or want more information on Democracy Web, or want to leave comments, who should I contact?

Please contact us HERE.