World Justice Project surveys rule of law and perceptions of corruption in 102 countries (US #19)

Denmark topped the list in a new study ranking countries on how the rule of law is experienced by citizens. Britain came 12th and Venezuela trailed in last place.

The World Justice Project (WJP) says that its Rule of Law Index, which ranks 102 countries, is the most comprehensive of its kind and the only one to rely on primary data. The scores are based on responses from 1,000 people in each country, who were asked questions about corruption, basic freedoms, regulation and other governance issues, and on testimonies from local legal experts.

The US stood in 19th place in the rankings, just below France (18). Russia was in 75th place, below China (71) and Ukraine (70). Turkey stood in 80th place, just below Mexico at 79. Afghanistan was the second-worst country, with Zimbabwe ranking 100th.

Botero said Venezuela had occupied the last place for several years. “The situation has continued to deteriorate … In various aspects of the rule of law – from police brutality, police accountability, freedom of speech, checks and balances on government, corruption – the government of Venezuela and the institutions, in general, are lagging behind the rest of the countries,” he said.

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/datablog/2015/jun/02/global-ranking-corruption-world-justice-project-aims-promote-good-governance

Scandinavia dominates the top of the rankings with only New Zealand, Singapore and Australia breaking the European hold on the top 10. There's a full list of country rankings at the link.

We're #19!