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§ Learn · Civics

The rules
of the game.

Before any election there are rules about rules: what the government may do, which rights it can't touch, who checks whom, and who gets a vote at all. Here is how they differ around the world.

The founding rules

Constitutions.

Codified or not

A constitution sets out how a state is organised, what each part of government may do, and the rights of the people. Most countries collect these rules in one supreme document. A few — the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Israel — have no single codified text: their constitution lives in ordinary statutes, court rulings, conventions and, in Israel's case, a series of Basic Laws.

Rigid or flexible

Constitutions are hard to change on purpose, so that a temporary majority can't rewrite the rules in its favour. Some go further and put parts beyond amendment entirely — Germany's "eternity clause", Brazil's "stone clauses", or the "basic structure" India's Supreme Court protects. Others are flexible: in the UK, Parliament can change constitutional law by simple majority.

Compare · How hard is it to amend?

Every approval a change must win.

Choose two countries. Each step is a separate body that must agree; the bar shows the share of votes needed there. More steps and higher bars make a constitution more rigid — though politics matters too: a dominant party can clear high bars, and a divided country can stall at low ones.

What the state owes you

Rights.

The sociologist T. H. Marshall described citizenship in Britain growing in three stages: civil rights in the 18th century, political rights in the 19th, social rights in the 20th. The categories are now used everywhere — and in international law.

Whether a right is protected depends on more than whether it is written down. It matters who can enforce it (can a court strike down a law that breaches it?), whether it binds private actors as well as the state, and whether it can be suspended in an emergency.

Who checks whom

Separation of powers.

Montesquieu argued in 1748 that liberty requires the power to make laws, to carry them out and to judge them to be held by different hands. Democracies apply the idea very differently.

Separation · United States

Congressmakes laws Presidentexecutes them Courtsinterpret them
Voterselect Congress and President separately
Each branch has its own source of authority and fixed terms. The President can't sit in Congress and can't be removed by a vote of no confidence — only by impeachment. Each can block the others: veto, veto override, Senate confirmation, judicial review.

Fusion · Westminster (UK, India, Canada, Australia)

Parliamentmakes lawsCabinetdrawn from Parliament, governs Courtsindependent
Voterselect Parliament only
The executive comes out of the legislature: ministers are members of Parliament, and the government lasts only as long as it keeps the confidence of the elected chamber. Walter Bagehot called this the "nearly complete fusion" of the two powers. The main check is a vote of no confidence — and the next election.

Many countries mix the two, as in France's semi-presidential system. Compare them on executives, see the forms of state on governments, or see the US checks in detail on US government.

Law above rulers

Rule of law & judicial review.

The rule of law means that everyone, including the government, is bound by laws that are public, clear, applied equally and enforced by independent courts. It is distinct from "rule by law", where rulers use law as a tool but are not themselves bound.

Judicial review is the power of courts to set aside government action — and in many countries, legislation — that breaks the constitution.

Strong form
Courts can strike down laws, and only a constitutional amendment (or a later ruling) can reverse them. United States since Marbury v. Madison (1803); Germany's Federal Constitutional Court; India's Supreme Court.
Weak form
Courts can flag a conflict, but the legislature has the last word. UK: a "declaration of incompatibility" under the Human Rights Act 1998 leaves the law in force. Canada: Section 33 of the Charter lets legislatures override some rights for five-year renewable periods.

Who is a citizen, who may vote

Citizenship & the franchise.

Becoming a citizen

Countries grant citizenship by birthplace (jus soli), by descent from a citizen (jus sanguinis), or both, plus naturalisation. Most of the Americas — including Canada, Mexico and Brazil — grant citizenship to almost everyone born there; in the United States the 14th Amendment's guarantee has been the subject of litigation since 2025. Much of Europe and Asia, including Germany and Japan, relies mainly on descent; India has required a citizen parent since 1987.

Winning the vote

The franchise widened in waves: property qualifications fell, then barriers of race and sex, then the voting age dropped — to 18 in most democracies, 16 in a few. Some countries make voting compulsory: Australia, Belgium, Brazil and Argentina enforce it with fines; Mexico's constitution calls voting a citizen's obligation but sets no penalty.

Try it · Who gets to vote

Two centuries of widening the franchise.

Drag the year, or pick a milestone. Barriers fell at different times in different places — and some, once removed, came back.

180018401880192019602000

1893

    See it in a country: India, the world's largest electorate, or how the US vote expanded.

    Voters as legislators

    Direct democracy.

    Most democracies are representative: voters choose people who decide. Many also let voters decide some questions themselves. Switzerland uses these tools most — several national votes every year.

    Try it · Voters deciding directly

    Four ways around the legislature.

    The constitution itself requires a popular vote on certain decisions.

    Examples Constitutional amendments in Australia, Japan, Ireland and Switzerland.

    1. Parliament Proposal The legislature passes the proposed change by the required majority.
    2. Electoral authority Question set The exact wording goes on the ballot; official yes and no cases may be published.
    3. Everyone Campaign Parties, groups and citizens campaign under spending and broadcasting rules.
    4. Voters Vote The change passes only if it meets the rule — often a double majority of people and regions.

    Does it pass?

      Scores and their limits

      How democracy is measured.

      Three widely cited indices rate countries every year. They usually agree on the clearest cases and differ at the margins, because they define democracy differently and gather evidence differently. We link to them rather than reproduce their scores.

      Varieties of Democracy Institute, University of Gothenburg

      V-Dem

      Measures
      Five principles of democracy — electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian — and a 'Regimes of the World' classification: closed autocracy, electoral autocracy, electoral democracy, liberal democracy.

      Method
      Thousands of country experts rate hundreds of indicators; a statistical model combines their answers and reports uncertainty. Coverage from 1789.

      Methodology ↗

      Freedom House (US non-profit)

      Freedom in the World

      Measures
      Political rights (0–40) and civil liberties (0–60), giving a status of Free, Partly Free or Not Free. Measures rights and freedoms people actually enjoy, not only the formal rules.

      Method
      In-house and external analysts score 25 indicators, reviewed by expert advisers. Annual since 1973.

      Methodology ↗

      Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)

      Democracy Index

      Measures
      Five categories — electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, civil liberties — on a 0–10 scale: full democracy, flawed democracy, hybrid regime, authoritarian.

      Method
      60 indicators combining expert assessment with public-opinion surveys where available. Published since 2006.

      Methodology ↗

      Things to keep in mind: expert judgements can disagree; a single number hides which part of democracy is weak (elections, courts, the press); and small score changes are often within the margin of uncertainty. V-Dem publishes its data under a Creative Commons BY-SA licence; Freedom House and the EIU publish theirs under their own terms.