When you purchase through links on our site , we may earn an affiliate committee . Here ’s how it works .
As Americans prepare to celebrate the 236th birthday of the Declaration of Independence and belief in liberty , equality and individual rights , including the rightfulness of every somebody to pursue felicity , 23 percentage of the public ’s population stomach under oppressive authorities where the multitude have no say in how they are governed , according to a 2012 Freedom House report on dictatorial governments . More than 1.6 billion people worldwide confront grievous import if they seek to exercise their most canonic rights , such as express their beliefs , assembling peacefully and organizing independently of the State Department . Citizens who adventure swan their rights in these inhibitory state typically suffer torment , persecution and incarceration and are often subject to forcible or psychological abuse . State dominance over public aliveness is pervasive and individuals have little if any resort to justice for crimes the state commits against them . The outlook is not all bad however , as the number of Worst of the Worst and Threshold countries has fallen over the years . From a peak of 38 such countries in 1984 , the number has declined to 16 countries in 2011 , due in large part with the move to multiparty systems from one - company states and military dictatorships and the collapse of communism in Europe .
Sixteen countries rank as the Worst of the Worst in personal freedoms, with 23% of the world population having no say in how they are governed.
