Are Political Freedoms Converging?

This article tests for convergence of freedom using Freedom House's (2002) indices of political rights and civil liberties in 136 countries from 1972 to 2001. Time-series tests, using structural breaks, are employed to test for stochastic and β-convergence. Cross-section tests are performed to examine the impact of legal systems, education, natural resources, economic freedom, and other variables. We find that political freedoms are converging for one-half of the countries. Additionally, we find that the level of freedom is significantly related to the legal system, education, economic freedom, and natural resources. (JEL O57, O40, C3) Copyright 2004, Oxford University Press.