Legislative participation
20%Across recent Dáil divisions, the share of recorded member votes that are a substantive position (Tá or Níl) rather than absence. Measures whether elected members turn up and take positions.
Open methodology
The Democratic Health Index
The Democratic Health Index is a single composite score, from 0 to 100, that reads how a democracy is functioning. It is built from six weighted dimensions. This page publishes the whole formula: the dimensions, their weights, the data source behind each, and how the composite is computed. Nothing is hidden, because a score people are asked to trust has to be one they can check.
What the index is, and is not
- Structural, not ideological. The dimensions measure how the system behaves, not who is in power or what they believe.
- No party affiliation. No measure reads a party label. A government of any composition is scored on the same arithmetic.
- Every component names its source. Each dimension below states exactly where its data comes from.
- No fabricated numbers. Dimensions not yet wired to a live feed are marked as not yet computed, and are excluded from the composite rather than guessed.
The six dimensions
Government accountability
20%The volume of scrutiny instruments exercised - parliamentary questions tabled and debate contributions recorded - scaled against a reference volume. Measures whether the legislature actively holds the executive to account.
Petition response rate
15%Of petitions that cross their published signature threshold for an official response, the share that reach a resolved state. Measures whether public demands that clear the bar actually get answered.
Press freedom
15%The country's standing in the RSF World Press Freedom Index (0-100, higher is better). A free press is a precondition for accountability. This is a static, source-stamped reading taken from the published index, not a live feed - see the as-of date.
Civic engagement
15%General-election turnout as a share of registered voters. Measures how actively citizens take part in democratic life. This is a static, source-stamped reading from the most recent general election, not a live feed - see the as-of date.
Transparency
15%Corruption-perception standing in the Transparency International CPI (0-100, higher is cleaner). Measures how openly and cleanly the state is perceived to operate. This is a static, source-stamped reading from the published index, not a live feed - see the as-of date.
Weights sum to 100%.
How the composite is computed
Each dimension is scored from 0 to 100 from its own data source. The composite is the weighted mean of those scores, using the weights above.
composite = ( legislative_participation x 0.20
+ government_accountability x 0.20
+ petition_response_rate x 0.15
+ press_freedom x 0.15
+ civic_engagement x 0.15
+ transparency x 0.15 )
/ ( sum of the weights of the dimensions
that are actually computed )While some dimensions are still being wired to their data feeds, the composite is taken over only the dimensions that are computed, and the divisor is renormalised to their combined weight. The health display reports the percentage of the methodology that is computed alongside the score, so a partial index is never presented as a complete one.