P R E L I M I N A R Y R E P O R T

6“Somethinkers,such as Platoor Hobbes,definedfreedom insuch a waythat justifiedextensive orabsolutistrule oversociety.”INTRODUCTIONThis report presents a broad measure ofhuman freedom around the world. It reflectsa multi-year program of research and discussionsheld in Europe and North America andinvolving scholars from many disciplinesand countries. It uses, adapts, and evolvesthe methodologies that emerged from thedecades-long work of the Fraser Institute todefine and measure economic freedom withthe Economic Freedom of the World index. 1 Theeconomic freedom project has demonstratedthe power of such measurement to increaseunderstanding about the concept of freedomand its contribution to human well-being.A central purpose of this report is to get ageneral but reasonably accurate picture of theextent of overall freedom in the world. A largerpurpose is to more carefully explore what wemean by freedom and to better understand itsrelationship to any number of other social andeconomic phenomena. This research could alsohelp us more objectively observe the ways inwhich various freedoms—be they economic orcivil, for example—interact with one another.We hope that this index will become a resourcefor scholars, policymakers and interested laypersonsalike, and that its value will increase asit is regularly updated, thus allowing us to observenumerous relationships through time.The research program which has led tothe human freedom index presented in thisstudy casts a wide net in an attempt to captureas broad a set of freedoms as could be clearlyidentified and measured. Some freedoms thatcould be clearly identified, such as the freedomto use drugs, could not be included sinceinternationally comparable data could not befound. In other cases, data and clarity couldonly be achieved for too few countries to satisfythe goal of making a global index. The indexin this report is the most comprehensive freedomindex ever created for a globally meaningfulset of countries.That said, we and the authors of the otherpreliminary papers and indices that have contributedto the creation of this index 2 recognizethat the global characterization of thestate of human freedom published here is verymuch a work in progress. It is published withsatisfaction but also with humility. We believethat we have constructed a Human FreedomIndex that provides a solid foundation for theensuing work of refinement and recalibrationin the face of new data sources and newunderstanding as time passes. In that spirit,the members of the project encourage otherresearchers to contribute to the developmentof the index by using it to explore the relationshipsbetween freedom and other aspects ofthe human condition. We also welcome critiques,which may be appropriate in furtherconsideration of the data found in the indexand published in this volume.CONCEPT AND APPROACHThe contest between liberty and power hasbeen ongoing for millennia. For just as long, ithas inspired competing conceptions of freedom.Some thinkers, such as Plato or Hobbes,defined freedom in such a way that justifiedextensive or absolutist rule over society. Others,such as the 6th-century B.C. Chinese philosopherLao-tzu, or the 16th-century Spanishscholastics, expressed and developed ideasconsistent with the view of the father of modernpolitical philosophy, John Locke, that freedomimplies that an individual not “be subjectto the arbitrary Will of another, but freely followhis own.” 3This index follows that latter tradition,which in the past several hundred years hasshaped the modern, liberal world. Freedomin our usage is a social concept that recognizesthe dignity of individuals and is definedby the absence of coercive constraint. 4 (Thatcontrasts with a mechanistic concept wherebyanything that limits a person’s ability to dowhat she wants—be it a natural, physical barrieror another person who happens to be standingin her way—is considered an infringementon her freedom.) Freedom thus implies thatindividuals have the right to lead their livesas they wish as long as they respect the equalrights of others.