Freedom in the World 2012—The Annual Survey of Political Rights & Civil Liberties

This reference text produced by Freedom House, a human rights advocacy and monitoring nonprofit, presents a comprehensive set of reports detailing various social metrics collected by governments and non-government organizations on political rights and civil liberties. There are 194 country reports that briefly summarize the history of each country, with a focus on political history. After this historical overview, information is offered on the kind of government they have, major institutions, relationships with other governments or powers, and the status of various political groups or social identities. The focus is on liberal democratic ideas concerning freedom and its exercise or constraint, and in this way is concerned with individual freedoms. The introductory material summarizes trends of 2011 in the data and in terms of historical narrative. The country reports take up most of the text, while the last hundred pages consist of disputed reports, a section on their survey methodology, and tables of ratings. This text is released yearly. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Freedom House is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that supports democratic change, monitors freedom, and advocates for democracy and human rights.