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๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ง Barbados: Politics & Democracy

Broadly yes โ€” Barbados scores 0.670 on the V-Dem liberal democracy index (0โ€“1 scale), placing it among functioning democracies, though with weaker liberal safeguards than the top-ranked states.

Liberal democracy rank (2024)

#34 of 179

Score (0โ€“1)

0.670

10-year change

+0.006

Full rankings โ†’

Current leaders

Sandra Mason

Head of State ยท independent politician

since 2021-11-30

Mia Mottley

Head of Government ยท Barbados Labour Party

since 2018-05-25

Democracy trend

0.00.51.019002024
Barbados โ€” V-Dem liberal democracy index, 1900โ€“2024 (0โ€“1 scale). Latest: 0.670 in 2024.

Upcoming elections

2027 Barbadian parliamentary election

2027-01-01T00:00:00Z

Voting alignment

Barbados's closest UN General Assembly voting partners since 1946:

Frequently asked questions

Is Barbados a democracy?

Broadly yes โ€” Barbados scores 0.670 on the V-Dem liberal democracy index (0โ€“1 scale), placing it among functioning democracies, though with weaker liberal safeguards than the top-ranked states. It ranks #34 of 179 countries in 2024.

Is democracy in Barbados improving or declining?

Barbados's V-Dem liberal democracy score has improved by 0.006 points over the past decade, standing at 0.670 in 2024 (1-year change: -0.005).

Who leads Barbados?

Sandra Mason is Barbados's head of state (independent politician); Mia Mottley serves as head of government (Barbados Labour Party).

When is the next election in Barbados?

2027 Barbadian parliamentary election is scheduled for 2027-01-01T00:00:00Z.

More on Barbados

Data source: Coppedge, Michael et al. 'V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15', Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, https://www.v-dem.net, CC BY 4.0.