Data source: Fund for Peace
The Fragile States Index (Failed States Index), produced by The Fund for Peace, is a critical tool in highlighting not only the normal pressures that all states experience, but also in identifying when those pressures are pushing a state towards the brink of failure. By highlighting pertinent issues in weak and failing states, the FSI - and the social science framework and software application upon which it is built - makes political risk assessment and early warning of conflict accessible to policy-makers and the public at large.
The strength of the FSI is its ability to distill millions of pieces of information into a form that is relevant as well as easily digestible and informative. Daily, The Fund for Peace collects thousands of reports and information from around the world, detailing the existing social, economic and political pressures faced by each of the 178 countries.
The FSI is based on The Fund for Peace's proprietary Conflict Assessment Software Tool (CAST) analytical platform. Based on comprehensive social science methodology, data from three primary sources is triangulated and subjected to critical review to obtain final scores for the FSI. Millions of documents are analyzed every year. By applying highly specialized search parameters, scores are apportioned for every country based on twelve key political, social and economic indicators (which in turn include over 100 sub-indicators) that are the result of years of painstaking expert social science research. The Fund for Peace's software performs content analysis on this collected information.
The scores produced by The Fund for Peace's software are also compared with a comprehensive set of vital statistics - as well as human analysis - to ensure that the software has not misinterpreted the raw data. Though the basic data underpinning the Failed States Index is already freely and widely available electronically, the strength of the analysis is in the methodological rigor and the systematic integration of a wide range of data sources.
Note: The principle of data timing was changed. Data from reports correspond to the situation from the previous year. The 2020 Fragile States Index, comprises data collected between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019. Therefore data from Report 2020 is recorded for 2019 and the same logic works for all other years.
When using this dataset, please cite as:
(Haken et al., 2020)
Browse variables and select them for download.
ffp_dp
Demographic Pressure - Pressures on the population such as disease and natural disasters make it difficult for the government to protect its citizens or demonstrate a lack of capacity or will. Include ...
ffp_eco
Economic Decline Indicator - It considers factors related to economic decline within a country. For example, the Indicator looks at patterns of progressive economic decline of the society as a whole a ...
ffp_ext
External Intervention - When the state fails to meet its international or domestic obligations, external actors may intervene to provide services or to manipulate internal affairs. Includes pressures ...
ffp_fe
Factionalized Elites - When local and national leaders engage in deadlock and brinkmanship for political gain, this undermines the social contract. Includes pressures and measures related to power str ...
ffp_fsi
Fragile States Index (The Failed States Index) includes an examination of the pressures on states, their vulnerability to internal conflict and societal deterioration. The country ratings are based on ...
ffp_gg
Group Grievance - When tension and violence exists between groups, the state's ability to provide security is undermined and fear and further violence may ensue. Includes pressures and measures relate ...
ffp_hf
The Human Flight and Brain Drain Indicator considers the economic impact of human displacement (for economic or political reasons) and the consequences this may have on a country’s development. On the ...
ffp_hr
Human Rights and Rule of Law - When human rights are violated or unevenly protected, the state is failing in its ultimate responsibility. Includes pressures and measures related to press freedom, civi ...
ffp_ps
Public Services - The provision of health, education, and sanitation services, among others, are key roles of the state. Includes pressures and measures related to policing, criminality, education pro ...
ffp_ref
Refugees and IDPs - Pressures associated with population displacement. This strains public services and has the potential to pose a security threat. Includes pressures and measures related to displace ...
ffp_sec
Security Apparatus - The security apparatus should have monopoly on the use of legitimate force. The social contract is weakened where this is affected by competing groups. Includes pressures and meas ...
ffp_sl
State Legitimacy - Corruption and lack of representativeness in the government directly undermine the social contract. Includes pressures and measures related to corruption, government effectiveness, ...
ffp_ued
Uneven Economic Development - When there are ethnic, religious, or regional disparities, the governed tend to be uneven in their commitment to the social contract. Includes pressures and measures rela ...