Opposition Performance Index
Global Rankings
50 countries scored on a 0–10 composite of four V-DEM-derived factors. Click any row for the country profile.
| #↕ | Country↕ | OPI ↓ | Tier↕ |
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Regional Overview
Bubble map — bubble colour indicates OPI tier, size scales with score. Hover for details, click for full profile.
Compare Countries
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About the Opposition Performance Index
A diagnostic tool for measuring the structural conditions that determine whether democratic opposition can operate, organise, and compete.
What the OPI measures
The Opposition Performance Index quantifies the operating environment for opposition political actors. Unlike democracy indices that measure outcomes (free elections, civil liberties), the OPI measures the capacity to contest — the legislative tools, party structures, civic space, and electoral rules that determine whether an opposition can credibly challenge an incumbent. Countries with strong election-day indicators can still rank poorly if opposition institutions have been hollowed out.
Methodology — four factors
Each country receives a composite 0–10 score derived from 16 underlying V-DEM v16 indicators, grouped into four factors:
Factor 1 · Opposition Capacity 35%
- Opposition Party Autonomy
- Legislature Investigates
- Opposition Participation
- Legislature Questions Officials
- Legislative Constraints on Executive
- Horizontal Accountability Index
Factor 2 · Party Institutionalization 25%
- Party Cohesion
- Party Nationalization Score
- Party Organization Strength
Factor 3 · Enabling Environment 25%
- Media Freedom
- Freedom of Discussion
- CSO Freedom
- Campaign Freedom
Factor 4 · Electoral Integrity 15%
- Electoral Democracy Index
- Barriers to Parties
- Party Bans
Scoring tiers
Composite scores fall into six tiers used throughout the index:
- High (7.5–10): Consolidated democratic opposition with strong institutional protections.
- Medium-High (6–7.4): Functional opposition with localized vulnerabilities.
- Medium (4.5–5.9): Mixed environment; opposition operates but faces meaningful constraint.
- Medium-Low (3–4.4): Eroding space; opposition functions but is structurally disadvantaged.
- Low (1.5–2.9): Severely constrained; competitive authoritarian dynamics.
- Very Low (0–1.4): Closed system; no meaningful opposition space.
Intervention framework
Each country profile pairs the score with one of ten Gamboa intervention codes (R1–R10) recommending where external democracy-support efforts deliver the highest marginal return given the country’s specific weakness profile.
Data sources & attribution
The underlying indicators are drawn from the Varieties of Democracy (V-DEM) Institute dataset, version 16, covering 2018–2025. Composite scores, factor groupings, and tier thresholds are constructed by Opposition International. The OPI is methodologically inspired by published work on opposition resilience, including frameworks by Laura Gamboa on opposition strategy under authoritarianism.
Full 105-country dataset available
Contact Opposition International for access to the complete index, methodology documentation, and quarterly briefings.
© Opposition International · OPI methodology and scoring framework. V-DEM data © V-DEM Institute, used under terms of use. This is a demo deployment — figures are illustrative.