Freedom House

For other uses, see Freedom House (disambiguation).

Freedom House
FormationOctober 31, 1941; 83 years ago (1941-10-31)
TypeResearch institute
Think tank
13-1656647
Headquarters1850 M Street NW, Suite 1100, Washington, D.C., U.S.
President
Nicole Bibbins Sedaca (interim)
Key people
Jane Harman, Chair, Board of Trustees
Revenue (2022)
$93.4 million[1]
Expenses (2022)$85.3 million
Staffapprox. 230[2]
Websitewww.freedomhouse.org Edit this at Wikidata

Freedom House is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. It is best known for political advocacy surrounding issues of democracy, political freedom, and human rights.[3] Freedom House was founded in October 1941, with Wendell Willkie and Eleanor Roosevelt serving as its first honorary chairpersons. Most of the organization's funding comes from the U.S. State Department[4] and other government grants. It also receives funds from various semi-public and private foundations, as well as individual contributions.[5]

The organization's annual Freedom in the World report assesses each country's degree of political freedoms and civil liberties. Another key annual report, Freedom on the Net, is Freedom House's annual survey and analysis of internet freedom around the world. While often cited by political scientists, journalists, and policymakers, the organization's democracy indices have received criticism.[6]

Between the 1970s and 2000s, critics predominately alleged that the organization was biased towards American interests due to government funding;[7] others criticized the organization's reliance on democratic indices created near-exclusively by Raymond Gastil.[8] In 2018, the rankings were criticized by National Review, a conservative newspaper, for its perceptions of the NGO being "anti-conservative".[9][10]

  1. ^ "Freedom House" (PDF). Freedom House. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference board was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Cuba After Fidel – What Next?". Voice of America. October 31, 2009. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  4. ^ Nixon, Ron (April 14, 2011). "U.S. Groups Helped Nurture Arab Uprisings". The New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
  5. ^ "Financials". Freedom House. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  6. ^ Little, Andrew; Meng, Anne (January 17, 2023). "Subjective and Objective Measurement of Democratic Backsliding". Social Science Research Network. Rochester, NY. SSRN 4327307.
  7. ^ William Ide (January 11, 2000). "Freedom House Report: Asia Sees Some Significant Progress". Voice of America. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference :6 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).