The United States of America

USA United States of America
Status	Independent State
Social and Moral Index	38th best
Capital	Washington
Land Area	9 147 420km21
Location	North America, The Americas
Population	327.1m2
Life Expectancy	77.20yrs (2017)3
GNI	$64 765 (2017)4
ISO3166-1 Codes	US, USA, 8405
Internet Domain	.us6
Currency	Dollar (USD)7
Telephone	+18

1. Introduction
2. USA National and Social Development
3. USA's Demographics and Migration
4. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance
5. Health
6. Responsibility Towards The Environment
7. USA's Modernity and Learning
8. USA's Culture, Peace and Inequality
9. Religion and Beliefs
10. The USA's First Past the Post (FPTP) Voting System Has Eroded US Political Quality
11. Links

---

1. Introduction

“The great American experience is about so many things: bluegrass and beaches, snow-covered peaks and redwood forests, restaurant-loving cities and big open skies. America is the birthplace of LA, Las Vegas, Chicago, Miami, Boston and New York City - each a brimming metropolis whose name alone conjures a million different notions of culture, cuisine and entertainment. Look more closely, and the American quilt unfurls in all its surprising variety: the eclectic music scene of Austin, the easygoing charms of antebellum Savannah, the ecoconsciousness of free-spirited Portland, the magnificent waterfront of San Francisco, and the captivating old quarters of New Orleans, still rising up from its waterlogged ashes.

This is a country of road trips and great open skies, where four million miles of highways lead past red-rock deserts, below towering mountain peaks, and across fertile wheat fields that roll off toward the horizon. The sun-bleached hillsides of the Great Plains, the lush rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and the scenic country lanes of New England are a few fine starting points for the great American road trip.”

Lonely Planet (2014)₉

2. USA National and Social Development

#economics #human_development #USA #wealth

UN HDI (2021)10
Pos.		Higher is better Value10
1	Switzerland	0.962
2	Norway	0.961
3	Iceland	0.959
	...
18	UK	0.929
19=	S. Korea	0.925
19=	Japan	0.925
21	USA	0.921
22	Israel	0.919
23=	Slovenia	0.918
23=	Malta	0.918
25	Austria	0.916
	The Americas Avg	0.75
	World Avg	0.72
q=191.

Gross National Income Per-Capita (2021)10
Pos.		Higher is better PPP $10
1	Liechtenstein	$146 830
2	Singapore	$90 919
3	Qatar	$87 134
4	Luxembourg	$84 649
5	Ireland	$76 169
6	Switzerland	$66 933
7	USA	$64 765
8	Norway	$64 660
9	Brunei	$64 490
10	Hong Kong	$62 607
11	UAE	$62 574
12	Denmark	$60 365
	The Americas Avg	$16 628
	World Avg	$20 136
q=193.

Social & Moral Development Index11
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank11
1	Denmark	29.1
2	Norway	32.3
3	Sweden	34.1
	...
35	Malta	61.6
36	Chile	61.7
37	Greece	62.1
38	USA	62.4
39	Slovakia	62.7
40	Mauritius	63.6
41	Latvia	63.7
42	Lithuania	65.5
	The Americas Avg	81.5
	World Avg	88.9
q=199.

The United Nations produces an annual Human Development Report which includes the Human Development Index. The factors taken into account include life expectancy, education and schooling and Gross National Income (GNI) amongst many others..

The Social and Moral Development Index concentrates on moral issues and human rights, violence, public health, equality, tolerance, freedom and effectiveness in climate change mitigation and environmentalism, and on some technological issues. A country scores higher for achieving well in those areas, and for sustaining that achievement in the long term. Those countries towards the top of this index can truly said to be setting good examples and leading humankind onwards into a bright, humane, and free future. See: Which are the Best Countries in the World? The Social and Moral Development Index.

The USA is going through very troubling times; especially apparent since the 2000s after a series of catastrophic decisions on the environment and a failure to change its FPTP voting system which is infamous for causing 2-party dysfunction; the result is political and cultural divisions that have stopped the country operating well. But it wasn't always like this:

“[From the 1970s, ] the US economy boomed almost uninterruptedly [overall], per capita income rose by 50 percent, crime declined, race relations improved, cities began thriving again, and every component of the so-called misery index dropped. [...] By the early 1990s the Cold War was won, communism was destroyed, socialism discredited, and America towered above the world politically, militarily, and culturally.”

"The Future of Freedom" by Fareed Zakaria (2003)₁₂

3. USA's Demographics and Migration

#birth_control #demographics #fertility #health #immigration #life_expectancy #longevity #migration #overpopulation #population #yemen

Population:

The USA's population is predicted to rise to 361.68 million by 2030. This rise is despite a low fertility rate, meaning, that this country is helping to alleviate problems with growing population in neighbouring countries by accepting immigrants, very likely as a requirement of maintaining an active workforce. This country has a fertility rate of 1.67. The fertility rate is, in simple terms, the average amount of children that each woman has. The higher the figure, the quicker the population will grow, although, to calculate the rate you also need to take into account morbidity - the rate at which people die. If people live healthy and long lives and morbidity is low, then, 2.0 approximates to the replacement rate (two new children for each set of parents who die), which would keep the population stable. If all countries had such a fertility rate, population growth would end. The actual replacement rate in most developed countries is around 2.1. The highest fertility rate ever detected in a single year was in Yemen in 1985, at 8.86.₁₃

Population2
Pos.		2018 Population2
1	China	1.4b
2	India	1.4b
3	USA	327.1m
4	Indonesia	267.7m
5	Pakistan	212.2m
6	Brazil	209.5m
7	Nigeria	195.9m
8	Bangladesh	161.4m
9	Russia	145.7m
10	Japan	127.2m
11	Mexico	126.2m
12	Ethiopia	109.2m
	World Avg	39.0m
q=195.

Life Expectancy Higher is better10
Pos.		2021 Years10
1	Monaco	85.9
2	Hong Kong	85.5
3	Japan	84.8
	...
43	Czechia	77.7
44	Croatia	77.6
45	Barbados	77.6
46	USA	77.2
47	Estonia	77.1
48	Costa Rica	77.0
49	Saudi Arabia	76.9
50	Albania	76.5
	World Avg	71.28
q=195.

Fertility Rate 2.0 is best14
Pos.		202214
1	US Virgin Islands	2.00
2	Ecuador	2.00
3	Nepal	2.01
	...
48=	Suriname	2.32
48=	Cambodia	2.32
50	Azerbaijan	1.67
51	USA	1.67
52	Honduras	2.34
53	New Zealand	1.66
54	S. Africa	2.34
55	Turks & Caicos Islands	1.66
	World Avg	2.47
q=208.

Old-Age Dependency Ratio Lower is better15
Pos.		2016 Per 10015
1	Uganda	04.3
2	Mali	04.5
3=	Chad	04.7
	...
150	Serbia	32.7
151	Hungary	32.9
152	Romania	33.6
153	USA	33.8
154	New Zealand	34.9
155	UK	35.0
156	Barbados	35.6
157	Lithuania	36.0
	World Avg	18.3
q=185.

• The Population of the Earth
• Abortion, Birth Control and Contraception

Migration:

Immigrants16
Pos.		2017 %16
1	UAE	88.4%
2	Kuwait	75.5%
3	Qatar	65.2%
	...
31	San Marino	15.7%
32	Bahamas	15.6%
33	Maldives	15.4%
34	USA	15.3%
35	Norway	15.1%
36	Germany	14.8%
37	Estonia	14.7%
38	Gabon	13.8%
	World Avg	9.4%
q=195.

Emigrants17
Pos.		2010 %17
1	Dominica	104.8%
2	Palestine	68.4%
3	Samoa	67.3%
	...
176	Solomon Islands	1.0%
177	India	0.9%
178	Papua New Guinea	0.9%
179	USA	0.8%
180	Namibia	0.7%
181	Ethiopia	0.7%
182	Tanzania	0.7%
183	Brazil	0.7%
	World Avg	11.5%
q=192.

4. Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance

#antisemitism #egypt #equality #freedom #gender_equality #human_rights #morals #politics #prejudice #tolerance #usa #usa_antisemitism

Human Rights, Equality & Tolerance (2025)18
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank18
1	Sweden	6.1
2	Denmark	8.6
3	Norway	9.0
	...
23	Japan	34.5
24	Uruguay	35.5
25	Estonia	36.9
26	USA	38.6
27	Malta	39.7
28	Cyprus	40.5
	The Americas Avg	71.80
	World Avg	86.55
q=199.

The USA performs very well in ensuring human rights and freedom compared to most other countries. The USA comes in the best 20 for its success in fighting anti-semitic prejudice₁₉ (amongst the lowest in The Americas), the rate of gender bias (from 7 indicators)₂₀ (one of the lowest in The Americas), eliminating modern slavery₂₁ and in freethought₂₂ (amongst the lowest in The Americas). It does better than average for supporting personal, civil & economic freedoms₂₃ (amongst the best in The Americas), commentary in Human Rights Watch reports₂₄ (one of the highest in The Americas), LGBT equality₂₅, opposing gender inequality₂₆ (one of the best in The Americas), its average Freedom in the World rating and in supporting press freedom₂₇. But, there's bad news too. The USA does worse than average in terms of its nominal commitment to Human Rights₂₈ (amongst the lowest in The Americas). The country is deeply divided; 1% of the population draws 20% of the country's entire income₂₉. Trump-era politics has driven back human rights concerns, and is ushering in an era of intolerance and inequality, especially for LGBT folk, the poor, women and other minorities₃₀ and has been vocally supportive of authoritarian strong-man regimes that also have poor human rights records. Despite Trump, on some occasions, the USA still manages to encourage human rights, most notably in cutting $100 million and holding back another $195 million of its aid to Egypt, citing human rights violations₃₁ and 'threatening targeted sanctions against the Burmese military officials behind the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya minority'₃₀.

For tables, charts and commentary, see:

• Human Rights and Freedom in USA

5. Health

#health #pseudoscience #USA #USA_health

Health (2025)32
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank32
1	Monaco	14.3
2	Liechtenstein	30.1
3	Isle of Man	32.1
	...
54	Croatia	77.2
55	Antigua & Barbuda	77.6
56	Greece	77.8
57	USA	78.7
58	British Virgin Islands	78.7
59	Israel	79.3
	The Americas Avg	92.66
	World Avg	97.60
q=213.

The USA does relatively well in encouraging good health, compared to many other countries. The USA comes in the best 20 in its food aid and health contributions and WHO compliance₃₃ (one of the lowest in The Americas). It does better than average in its average life expectancy₁₀, its fertility rate₁₄ and in its adolescent birth rate₃₄ (amongst the best in The Americas). The USA doesn't do so well in other areas. The USA does worse than average for its suicide rate₃₅, its immunizations take-up₃₆, its smoking rate₃₇, its alcohol consumption rate₃₈ (one of the worst in The Americas) and in the prevalence of overweight adults₃₉ (one of the worst in The Americas). The number of overweight adults has increased by 14% over the last 40 years.

Many US chronic diseases are preventable through lifestyle choices₄₀ but the health sector is distorted by commercialist pressures and symptoms of long-term mismanagement; poor messaging and education feeds a widespread public reliance on pseudoscience, wellness fads, and unproven quack remedies. Annual spending on alternative remedies rose 50% in the 1990s, to $27 billion₄₁. The food industry that has little incentive to make healthy food cheaper by default; its powerful lobby produces swathes of misinformation and misleading advertising that obscures any evidence-based guidance on nutrition and lifestyle.

In 2025, the Trump administration has been making things substantially worse. Key health and science positions have been filled by vocal anti-science figures who have dismissed experts, dismantled research, suppressed studies, and erased data that contradicts their personal beliefs (which are often based in conspiracy theories). Science and health research has been decimated. and 2025 stands as one of the most perilous and regressive years for health in the USA, causing added dysfunction that will take a decade to fix.

For tables, charts and commentary, see:

• USA's Health Versus Obesity, Commercialism and Conspiracy Theories

6. Responsibility Towards The Environment

#climate_change #climate_change_deniers #energy #environmentalism #pollution #sustainability #the_environment #USA #usa_and_the_environment #usa_republican_party

Responsibility Towards The Environment (2025)42
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank42
1	Sri Lanka	34.9
2	Uruguay	43.2
3	Switzerland	45.0
	...
158	Seychelles	103.4
159	Bosnia & Herzegovina	103.5
160	St Lucia	103.6
161	USA	103.8
162	Lebanon	103.9
163	Papua New Guinea	104.5
	The Americas Avg	92.66
	World Avg	84.93
q=199.

The USA is 161st in the world with regard to its responsibility towards the environment. This is calculated from 21 data sets. The USA comes in the best 20 for its score on the Green Future Index₄₃ (one of the best in The Americas). It does better than average in its environmental performance₄₄ (one of the highest in The Americas) and in its forested percent change 2000-2020₄₅. But, there's bad news too. The USA does worse than average when it comes to energy to GDP efficiency₄₆ and in its sign-up rate to major international accords on protecting the environment. It falls into the worst 20 in the rate of rational beliefs on the environment in the population₄₇ (amongst the worst in The Americas). And finally, it is second-from-the-bottom in reducing annual meat consumption per person₄₈. In the 1970s the USA was a world leader on serious long-term environmental issues, and its scientists rang many of the first alarm bells regarding side-effects of industrial chemicals. The USA joined many groups in protecting endangered species, oceans and fisheries. Much of this continued into the 1980s. But, this didn't last. The USA drew worldwide criticism for failing to adopt the greatest international agreement for the reduction of some greenhouse gases, the Kyoto Protocol, which was accepted by nearly every other country. This is despite the fact that the USA is by a very wide margin the world's biggest polluter over time, and very disproportionately so for its population; in 2000, it had 4% of the world's population but produced 25% of the worlds' pollution₄₉. Starting with President Bush, it has been Republican Party policy not to combat climate change and to deny the scale of the problem.

Despite the failure of USA politics, its scientific institutions have been effective in pursuing sustainable goals, led by high quality and serious university-led research, managing to co-operate at state and local levels to improve the USA's impact on the world.

For tables, charts and commentary, see:

• The USA Versus the Environment

7. USA's Modernity and Learning

#australia #canada #education #english #intelligence #it_security #maths #modernity #politics #religion #religiosity #research #science #secularisation #singapore #technology #the_internet #USA

Compared to The Americas (2020)50
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank50
1=	Canada	21.8
2	USA	26.4
3	Argentina	38.2
4	Grenada	43.4
5	Barbados	47.4
6	St Kitts & Nevis	48.8
7	Chile	48.8
8	Brazil	52.8
9	Uruguay	57.6
10	Mexico	64.5
11	Peru	68.2
12	Costa Rica	69.8
13	Cuba	72.8
	The Americas Avg	81.34
q=35.

Modernity & Learning (2020)50
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank50
1	Finland	7.1
2	Belgium	12.9
3	Denmark	13.6
	...
18	S. Korea	22.2
19	Slovenia	22.5
20	Japan	24.7
21	USA	26.4
22	France	26.8
23	Hungary	29.0
24	Israel	29.5
25	Spain	30.0
	World Avg	86.31
q=190.

The most modern countries, with the best results from education, the highest levels of research, and with the easiest access to information on the Internet, are Finland, Belgium and Denmark₅₁. The worst countries are Eritrea, S. Sudan and Sierra Leone₅₁. Despite improves in global education, access to tertiary (adult) education is becoming increasingly unequal between the rich haves and the poor have-nots₅₂.

“Education, at all levels and ages, is the single most vital support for equality as well as being a country's most vital economic and social resource. [...] Every successful aspirant to modernisation and economic development, from Japan to South Korea, China to Chile, has got there with a big emphasis on education.”

Bill Emmott (2017)₅₃

15 datasets are used to calculate points for each country, including multiple decades of data on Research and Development, Secondary Education, Length of Schooling, Intellectual Endeavours, Maths, Science & Reading, Religiosity, IQ, the percent of citizens with access to the internet, Freedom On The Internet, IT Security, IPv6 Uptake and digital quality of life. The regions with the best average results per country are Scandinavia, Baltic States and Europe₅₁, whereas the worst are Melanesia, Africa and Micronesia₅₁.

For more, see:

• "Which Countries are Most Modern, With the Best Education and Internet Access?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

Modernity and Education:

In 1990-1992, education in the USA was the 3rd-longest in the world, at 15.4+ years, beaten only by Australia and Canada, although by the 2020s it had been overtaken by 30 other countries.₅₄

Research & Development Higher is better
Pos.		2016 % RDP PPP
1	S. Korea	4.2955
2	Israel	4.1155
3	Japan	3.5855
	...
8	Austria	3.0056
9	Switzerland	2.9657
10	Germany	2.8455
11	USA	2.7458
12	Belgium	2.4655
13	Slovenia	2.3955
14	France	2.2655
15	Australia	2.2559
	The Americas Avg	0.47
	World Avg	0.84
q=126.

Secondary Education Higher is better60
Pos.		201860
1=	Luxembourg	100.0%
1=	Estonia	100.0%
1=	Austria	100.0%
	...
22	Russia	95.9%
23	Croatia	95.7%
24	Azerbaijan	95.6%
25	USA	95.6%
26	Norway	95.4%
27	S. Korea	95.2%
28	Bulgaria	95.1%
29	Lithuania	94.9%
	The Americas Avg	63.0%
	World Avg	63.0%
q=169.

Length of Schooling Higher is better61
Pos.		2021 Years61
1	Australia	21.1
2	New Zealand	20.3
3	Greece	20.0
	...
28	Canada	16.4
29	Bahrain	16.3
30	Lithuania	16.3
31	USA	16.3
32	Italy	16.2
33	Czechia	16.2
34	Latvia	16.2
35	Saudi Arabia	16.1
	The Americas Avg	14.2
	World Avg	13.5
q=193.

Intellectual Endeavours Lower is better33
Pos.		2017 Rank33
1	Ukraine	1
2	Czechia	2
3	Hungary	3
	...
35	Barbados	35
36	Estonia	36
37	Luxembourg	37
38	USA	38
39	Portugal	39
40	Spain	40
41	Italy	41
42	Slovakia	42
	The Americas Avg	99.8
	World Avg	82.0
q=163.

Maths, Science & Reading Higher is better62
Pos.		2015 Score62
1	Singapore	1655
2	Hong Kong	1598
3	Japan	1586
	...
28	Russia	1476
29	Spain	1475
30	Czechia	1472
31	USA	1463
32	Latvia	1460
33	Italy	1456
34	Luxembourg	1450
35	Iceland	1443
	The Americas Avg	1287
	World Avg	1389
q=70.

Religiosity Lower is better63
Pos.		2018 %63
1	China	3
2	Estonia	6
3	Czechia	7
	...
48=	Romania	50
49	Georgia	51
50=	Armenia	53
50=	USA	53
52	Bosnia & Herzegovina	54
53=	Greece	56
53=	Paraguay	56
55	Lebanon	57
	The Americas Avg	65.4
	World Avg	54.3
q=106.

IQ Higher is better64
Pos.		200664
1=	Hong Kong	108
1=	Singapore	108
3	S. Korea	106
	...
26=	France	98
26=	Australia	98
26=	Denmark	98
26=	USA	98
26=	Latvia	98
26=	Hungary	98
32	Ukraine	97
33=	Russia	97
	The Americas Avg	85.3
	World Avg	85.6
q=138.

Technology and Information:

Internet Users Higher is better65
Pos.		201665
1	Iceland	100%
2	Faroe Islands	99%
3	Norway	98%
	...
17	Estonia	91%
18	Japan	91%
19	New Zealand	89%
20=	USA	89%
20=	Canada	89%
20=	Belgium	89%
23	Czechia	88%
24	Germany	88%
	The Americas Avg	56.4%
	World Avg	48.1%
q=201.

Freedom On The Internet Lower is better66
Pos.		201266
1	Estonia	10
2	USA	12
3	Germany	15
4	Australia	18
5	Hungary	19
6=	Philippines	23
6=	Italy	23
8	UK	25
9=	S. Africa	26
9=	Argentina	26
11	Ukraine	27
12=	Brazil	27
	The Americas Avg	39.3
	World Avg	46.7
q=47.

IT Security Lower is better67
Pos.		201367
1=	Ireland	0.11
1=	Luxembourg	0.11
1=	Belize	0.11
	...
74	Sri Lanka	1.67
75	Oman	1.72
76	Iraq	1.84
77	Bangladesh	1.87
78	Sudan	1.98
79	India	2.10
80	Russia	2.42
81	USA	3.68
	The Americas Avg	0.84
	World Avg	0.98

IPv6 Uptake Higher is better68
Pos.		2017 Ratio68
1	Belgium	55.4
2	Germany	41.8
3	Switzerland	35.1
4	USA	35.0
5	Greece	33.5
6	Luxembourg	32.4
7	India	26.8
8	Portugal	26.6
9	Ireland	26.1
10	UK	24.7
11	Japan	22.1
12	France	18.8
	The Americas Avg	3.36
	World Avg	3.82
q=176.

8. USA's Culture, Peace and Inequality

#afghanistan #capitalism #charitability #charity #corruption #culture #economics #equality #extremism #france #happiness #health #human_development #inequality #iraq #life_expectancy #morals #peace #politics #religious_violence #social_development #terrorism #UK #USA

Compared to The Americas (2020)71
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank71
1	Canada	23.1
2	Barbados	46.9
3	Costa Rica	47.3
4	Uruguay	52.6
5	USA	54.1
6	Chile	57.4
7	Trinidad & Tobago	62.1
8	Jamaica	69.5
9	Argentina	73.6
10	Cuba	73.8
11	Panama	78.4
12	Belize	78.8
13	Dominica	79.6
	The Americas Avg	79.19
q=33.

Culture, Peace & Inequality (2020)71
Pos.		Lower is better Avg Rank71
1	Denmark	11.2
2	Norway	13.9
3	Netherlands	14.4
	...
39	S. Korea	49.5
40	Uruguay	52.6
41	Croatia	52.9
42	USA	54.1
43	Romania	54.4
44	Malaysia	55.4
45	Chile	57.4
46	Lithuania	59.6
	World Avg	78.12
q=180.

This is the final pillar of the Social and Moral Development Index; it has 22 datasets, including multiple decades of data on World Giving Index, resisting corruption, overall happiness, Creativity and Culture, Open Trading, Aid and Development, its Global Peace Index rating, Peacekeeping and Security, Refugees and UN Treaties, the impact of terrorism, Inequality in Life Expectancy, Income Inequality (Gini Coefficient) and Multidimensional Poverty.

For more, see:

• "Which are the Countries for International Contributions, Creativity, Peace and Inequality?" by Vexen Crabtree (2025).

• United States of America: Foreign Aid

• USA: Contempt for United Nations and International Folly

National Culture:

The United States has a good long-term record on keeping corruption low, but things have been getting worse over the last ten years.

World Giving Index Higher is better72
Pos.		2022 %72
1	Indonesia	68.0
2	Kenya	61.0
3	USA	59.0
4	Australia	55.0
5	New Zealand	54.0
6	Myanmar (Burma)	52.0
7=	Sierra Leone	51.0
7=	Canada	51.0
9	Zambia	50.0
10=	Ukraine	49.0
10=	Ireland	49.0
12	Czechia	48.0
	The Americas Avg	43.7
	World Avg	39.6
q=125.

Corruption Higher is better73
Pos.		2022 Points73
1	Denmark	90.0
2=	Finland	87.0
2=	New Zealand	87.0
	...
21	France	72.0
22	Austria	71.0
23	Seychelles	70.0
24	USA	69.0
25=	Taiwan	68.0
25=	Bhutan	68.0
27	UAE	67.0
28=	Chile	67.0
	The Americas Avg	42.97
	World Avg	42.98
q=180.

Happiness Higher is better74
Pos.		2024 Score74
1	Finland	7.7
2	Denmark	7.5
3	Iceland	7.5
	...
21	UAE	6.8
22	Germany	6.8
23	UK	6.7
24	USA	6.7
25	Belize	6.7
26	Poland	6.7
27	Taiwan	6.7
28	Uruguay	6.7
	The Americas Avg	6.31
	World Avg	5.58
q=147.

Creativity & Culture Lower is better33
Pos.		2017 Rank33
1	Belgium	1
2	Netherlands	2
3	Estonia	3
	...
64	Mexico	64
65	S. Africa	65
66	Lebanon	66
67	USA	67
68	Guyana	68
69	Bosnia & Herzegovina	69
70	Tonga	70
71	Trinidad & Tobago	71
	The Americas Avg	80.2
	World Avg	82.0
q=163.

Open Trading, Aid & Development Lower is better33
Pos.		2017 Rank33
1	Ireland	1
2	Denmark	2
3	Sweden	3
	...
59	Senegal	59
60	Kyrgyzstan	60
61	Qatar	61
62	USA	62
63	Congo, DR	63
64	Honduras	64
65	S. Korea	65
66	Benin	66
	The Americas Avg	100.5
	World Avg	82.0
q=163.

Peace Versus Instability:

Despite invasions of Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003), the USA was not actually the country involved with the highest number of inter-state wars between 1946 and 2003; it had 16. France managed 3 more, at 19, and the UK totalled 21₇₅.

In the last few years, armed shootings, violent crime, civil unrest and unruly protests caused the USA to deteriorate on the Global Peace Index; these events culminated in Trump's supporters storming the governmental Capitol building on the 6th of Jan 2021. The USA now sits in the lowest quarter worldwide in 2021₇₆.

Global Peace Index Lower is better77
Pos.		2023 Score77
1	Iceland	1.12
2	Denmark	1.31
3	Ireland	1.31
	...
128	Burundi	2.39
129	Haiti	2.40
130	S. Africa	2.41
131	USA	2.45
132	Brazil	2.46
133	Eritrea	2.51
134	Palestine	2.54
135	Lebanon	2.58
	The Americas Avg	2.13
	World Avg	2.07
q=163.

Peacekeeping & Security Lower is better33
Pos.		2017 Rank33
1	Samoa	1
2	S. Africa	2
3	Tunisia	3
	...
69	Bulgaria	69
70	Zimbabwe	70
71	Spain	71
72	USA	72
73	Cyprus	73
74	Jamaica	74
75	Guyana	75
76	Fiji	76
	The Americas Avg	82.3
	World Avg	82.0
q=163.

Refugees & UN Treaties Lower is better33
Pos.		2017 Rank33
1	Austria	1
2	Germany	2
3	Netherlands	3
	...
26	Chile	26
27	Panama	27
28	Portugal	28
29	USA	29
30	Singapore	30
31	Greece	31
32	Bulgaria	32
33	S. Korea	33
	The Americas Avg	91.5
	World Avg	82.0
q=163.

Impact of Terrorism Lower is better78
Pos.		2019 Score78
1	Togo	0.00
2	Mongolia	0.00
3	Swaziland	0.00
	...
126	Mozambique	5.54
127	Ukraine	5.55
128	Niger	5.60
129	USA	5.69
130	Kenya	5.76
131	Sudan	5.81
132	Colombia	5.91
133	Thailand	6.03
	The Americas Avg	2.16
	World Avg	2.78
q=150.

Economic Inequality and Poverty:

Inequality in Life Expectancy Lower is better79
Pos.		201979
1	Iceland	2.40
2=	Singapore	2.50
2=	Hong Kong	2.50
	...
48	Malaysia	6.10
49=	Bulgaria	6.10
50	Chile	6.30
51=	USA	6.30
51=	Romania	6.30
53	Saudi Arabia	6.40
54	Oman	6.70
55	Bahamas	6.80
	The Americas Avg	12.03
	World Avg	14.59
q=184.

Income Inequality (Gini Coefficient) Lower is better80
Pos.		2023 %80
1	Slovakia	24.1%81
2	Slovenia	24.3%81
3	Belarus	24.4%82
	...
126=	Malaysia	40.7%81
127	Bolivia	40.9%81
128	Haiti	41.1%83
129	USA	41.3%84
130	Djibouti	41.6%85
131	Papua New Guinea	41.9%86
132	Cameroon	42.2%81
133	Cape Verde	42.4%87
	The Americas Avg	44.0%
	World Avg	36.5%
q=167.

9. Religion and Beliefs

#afterlife #atheism #belief #buddhism #christianity #god #heaven #hell #hinduism #islam #judaism #religion #religion_in_usa #religiosity #secularisation #universalism #usa

Religiosity (2018)63
Pos.		Lower is better %63
1	China	3
2	Estonia	6
3	Czechia	7
	...
48=	Romania	50
49	Georgia	51
50=	Armenia	53
50=	USA	53
52	Bosnia & Herzegovina	54
53=	Greece	56
53=	Paraguay	56
55	Lebanon	57
56	Panama	61
57	Venezuela	67
58	Turkey	68
59=	Bolivia	71
59=	Botswana	71
61	Brazil	72
62=	Egypt	72
63	Algeria	73
	World Avg	54.3
q=106.

Disbelief In God (2007)88
Pos.		Higher is better %88
1	Vietnam	81
2	Japan	65
3	Sweden	64
	...
38=	Kazakhstan	12
38=	China	12
38=	Uruguay	12
41	USA	10
42	Trinidad & Tobago	9
43	Albania	8
44=	Dominican Rep.	7
44=	Croatia	7
44=	Kyrgyzstan	7
44=	Cambodia	7
48	Moldova	6
49=	Italy	6
50	Laos	5
51=	Ireland	5
51=	Mozambique	5
53	Zimbabwe	4
	World Avg	9.9
q=137.

Data from the Pew Forum, a professional polling outfit, states that in 2010 the religious makeup of this country was as follows in the table below₈₉:

Christian	78.3%
Muslim	0.9%
Hindu	0.6%
Buddhist	1.2%
Folk Religion	0.2%
Jewish	1.8%
Unaffiliated	16.4%

It appears that when asked "What religion are you" many give pollsters the 'correct' answer despite how they actually feel, and despite what they actually believe. Although 83% of the populace say they belong to a religion, only 53% say that they are religious when the question is phrased as "Is religion an important part of your daily life?".

For more on this phenomenon, see:

• "Institutionalized Religions Have Their Numbers Inflated by National Polls" by Vexen Crabtree (2009)

The CIA World Factbook has slightly different data, and states: Protestant 51.3%, Roman Catholic 23.9%, Mormon 1.7%, other Christian 1.6%, Jewish 1.7%, Buddhist 0.7%, Muslim 0.6%, other or unspecified 2.5%, unaffiliated 12.1%, none 4% (2007 est.)₉₀.

The Afterlife: Ipsos-NA in 2011 gathered some statistics on USA₉₁. Despite the large numbers of Christians, not many have traditional beliefs in the afterlife - just 41%. Some people don't know what to believe (20%). Some believe that upon death, you simply cease to exist (11%). Also, 4% specifically believe in heaven but not in hell (which is nice - making them possible "universalists"). 4% believe in reincarnation.

Freedom of Religion and Belief: As far as developed countries go, the USA has particular problems with religious tolerance. Although the legal system is fair in many ways and you should expect tolerance, "the actions of local governments and private businesses suggest otherwise"₉₂ and the amount of discrimination is "massive" (according to a congressional report in 1999)₉₃.

Of the 5% of Americans who said they do not believe in God in 2007, only a quarter labelled themselves as atheist. 3 in 20 of American who tell pollsters that they don't believe in God also still call themselves Christian, another 1 in 20 still call themselves Jewish₉₄.

Links:

• A List of All Religions and Belief Systems
• Secularisation Theory: Will Modern Society Reject Religion? What is Secularism?
• Human Rights and Freedom in USA: 4.3. Freedom of Thought

10. The USA's First Past the Post (FPTP) Voting System Has Eroded US Political Quality

#canada #democracy #democratic_challenges #elections #india #poland #politics #UK #USA #voting

“Americans... think that something has gone fundamentally wrong with their country - specifically, with their political system.”

"The Future of Freedom" by Fareed Zakaria (2003)₉₅

“If there is one word typically associated with American politics beyond "money", it is "dysfunctional".”

"The Fate of the West" by Bill Emmott (2017)₉₆

First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) was a historical voting system₉₇ devised in the Middle Ages, but still in use by the USA: "we have neglected to update [it] despite radically changed circumstances. As a result, we feel trapped by a system we backed into without thinking much about"₉₈. It is very simple - the local candidate with the highest number of votes wins, and, government is formed from all the winners₉₇. But FPTP didn't survive the era of Political Parties, where its simplicity results in skewed elected bodies that don't represent the overall wishes of the country_{99,100,101,102}, and hence, almost every other democracy has stopped using FPTP₁₀₃.

“Our antiquated winner-take-all electoral mechanisms [is] why our national legislature has become the divisive, dysfunctional place it is today. [...] The heart of the problem is the system of single-winner districts, which give 100 percent of representation to the candidate who earns the most votes and zero percent to everyone else. [...] When a nation is deeply divided and large numbers of people fear that they will not be represented at all, the result is an erosion of trust in government and rising extremism and political violence.”

Jesse Wegman & Lee Drutman
New York Times (2025)₉₈

.

FPTP causes:(1) A great deal of votes to be 'lost' because there's no mechanism to count party votes overall and assign a correct number of seats at the national level; for example, given that the US House has 435 seats for elected representatives, when in 2016 the Libertarian Party won over 1% of the popular vote, they should have gotten 5 or 6 seats in government. But they got none. The same for the Green Party, and every other minor party: under FPTP, their votes don't add-up, and only the votes for a main party, and a single competitor, have significance. (2) 'Gerrymandering' by which constituency sizes and shapes are manipulated in order to get local victories, because total votes-by-party are disregarded. (3) Votes in populous constituencies to be worth less. (4) The need for tactical voting rather than true voting. (5) Undue support for popular (but small) local parties, unfairly boosting their influence at the national level. (6) Almost permanently squeezes-out most parties from government except the largest ones and therefore leads to two-party systems that have been so deleterious for political quality-control.

US founders like John Adams and James Madison warned against the dangers of having just two dominant parties. Adams wrote in 1776 that Congress "should be in miniature, an exact portrait of the people at large"₉₈; this is of course impossible under FPTP, where the majority of opinion, debate and even simple representation, is brushed away by the dominant party. The overall effect is a democratic loss as representation does not endure in government for a large portion of the populace, and so FPTP "can enflame underlying tensions, competitions, domination, clan politics, exclusion, hence conflicts"₁₀₄.

These problems are mitigated by Proportional Representation (PR) voting systems, where total votes for each party are used to assign an appropriate number of national seats, eliminating the 'lost votes' and most of the skew problems. PR has been adopted by all developed democracies except the UK and the USA₉₉, who both suffer from two-party political divisions that diminish their democratic legitimacy and effectiveness. About a fifth of Africa still uses FPTP, and some other developed countries such as Canada, India and Poland still use it for some elements of government. It is maintained mostly by archaic top-tier parties who have a vested interest in keeping FPTP₉₇ in order to continue long-term informal power-swapping practices with minimum competition.

First Past the Post performs the best when there are large numbers of small constituencies (for example, with 10,000 or 20,000 constituents in each). Proportional Representation works best with larger divisions, because total votes are aggregated across all areas. The quantity and make-up of US House of Representatives is 100 years out of date for FPTP: in the 1920s each representative had on average 34,000 constituents; but now, the average district has more than 760,000 people.₉₈ . The solution is to augment the number of representatives and adopt PR, to restore US democracy.

Although they don't know the specifics of FPTP nor PR, two-thirds of the US population 'want to see major changes' to the political system, and well over half want to see more than two effective parties to choose from₉₈. There are some movements towards change from academia; "more than 200 leading political scientists and historians [...] signed an open letter in 2022 calling on the House of Representatives to adopt Proportional Representation"₉₈. Despite this, it is incredibly difficult to get the two main parties to support a move away from FPTP.