Global Barometer

The Global Barometer Survey represents an indigenous initiative to develop a global intellectual community of democracy studies surveying ordinary citizens. The project’s agenda is built on the premises that public attitudes and orientations toward democracy are crucial to the process of political legitimacy and that political culture operates autonomously as a key factor mediating the impact of socioeconomic modernization on the evolution of the political regime, particularly in democracies. Originally inspired by the Eurobarometer, which was funded in the 1970s to track mass attitudes in what was then the European Community; new regional barometers have further developed innovative approaches that have been adapted to world regions undergoing rapid political and economic change. As more regions join the Global Barometer network, a standard approach is being established to ensure that the data is comparable and reliable.

The Global Barometer Survey now cover 3 continents, more than 50% of the world’s population, and it is still expanding. Besides Africa, East and South Asia, Central and South America, Post-Soviet Eurasia, the Middle East, the Caribbean region is the possible region that will join the network once surveys get off the ground in the area. Cross-national comparative surveys have been implemented in 64 countries and societies - namely Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Jordan, Palestine, Algeria, Morocco, Kuwait, Lebanon, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. In each of the 64 countries or regions, a national research team administers a country-wide face-to-face survey using standardized survey instruments to compile the required micro-level data under a common research framework and research methodology.

Members:

Eurasia Barometer surveys are conducted by the team of ICSR-EAB in 9 countries of Eastern Europe and Post-Soviet Eurasia. The first round of survey was conducted in 2000, and the most recent wave completed in 2021.

Latinobarómetro is an annual public opinion survey that involves some 20,000 interviews in 18 Latin American countries, representing more than 600 million inhabitants. The first surveys were conducted in 1995 and the latest in 2014.

Asian Barometer surveys cover 13 countries and territories in East and Southeast Asia and 5 countries in South Asia. The first wave of surveys was conducted in 2001 in East Asia and in 2005 in South Asia. The latest wave (Wave 3) was completed in 2010.

Afrobarometer surveys are conducted in more than 30 African countries and are repeated on a regular cycle. The first round of surveys was conducted in 1999 and the latest round (Round 6) began in March 2014.

Arab Barometer surveys are conducted in 12 countries in the Middle East region. The first round of surveys began in 2006/07 and the latest (Wave 3) from 2012-2014.

This project represents the largest, most careful and systematic comparative survey of attitudes and values toward politics, power, reform, democracy and citizens' political actions in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eurasia and the Arabic region. It is based on a common module of questions contained in regional barometer surveys; for additional regional-specific questions, see the original surveys: Afro Barometer, Arab Barometer, Asian Barometer and Latino Barometer.