---
title: "Palestine: Politics & Democracy | Model Diplomat"
description: "Palestine politics: ranks #138 of 179 on the V-Dem liberal democracy index in 2025 (score 11.4/100). Current leaders, democracy trend since 1946, and upcoming elections."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/politics/palestine"
---

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# 🇵🇸 Palestine: Politics & Democracy

By V-Dem's measure, no — Palestine scores 11.4 on the 0–100 liberal democracy index, which places it firmly in the autocratic range.

Liberal democracy rank (2025)

\#138 of 179

Score (0–100)

11.4

10-year change

−4.8

[Full rankings →](https://modeldiplomat.com/politics/democracy-index)

## Current leaders

Mahmoud Abbas

Head of State · Fatah

since 2005-01-15

Mohammad Shtayyeh

Head of Government · Fatah

since 2019-03-10

## Democracy trend

Palestine — V-Dem liberal democracy index, 1948–2025 (0–100 scale). Latest: 11.4 in 2025.

## Upcoming elections

next Palestinian legislative election

2027-09-11T00:00:00Z

next Palestinian presidential election

2027-09-11T00:00:00Z

## Frequently asked questions

Is Palestine a democracy?

By V-Dem's measure, no — Palestine scores 11.4 on the 0–100 liberal democracy index, which places it firmly in the autocratic range. It ranks #138 of 179 countries in 2025.

Is democracy in Palestine improving or declining?

Palestine's V-Dem liberal democracy score fell by 4.8 points over the past decade (a decline on this index), standing at 11.4 in 2025 (1-year change: −0.4).

Who leads Palestine?

Mahmoud Abbas is Palestine's head of state (Fatah); Mohammad Shtayyeh serves as head of government (Fatah).

When is the next election in Palestine?

next Palestinian legislative election is scheduled for 2027-09-11T00:00:00Z.

## More on Palestine

[Full country profile](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/palestine)[Blocs & alliances](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/palestine/blocs-alliances)[Background](https://modeldiplomat.com/country/palestine/background)[Politics & democracy](https://modeldiplomat.com/politics/palestine)

- [Palestine's UN voting friends & foes](https://modeldiplomat.com/politics/alignment/palestine)
- [Where Palestine ranks on the global democracy index](https://modeldiplomat.com/politics/democracy-index)
- [Upcoming elections worldwide](https://modeldiplomat.com/politics/elections)
- [UN General Assembly voting by topic](https://modeldiplomat.com/politics/un)

Data source: Coppedge, Michael et al. 'V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v16', Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Project, https\://www\.v-dem.net, CC BY 4.0.