American Ranking Plummets in Global Index of 'Personal Freedoms'

In an age of expanding national security powers, increasing surveillance state, and rolled-back civil liberties protections, Americans’ perception of their own personal freedoms is plummeting, according to the annual ranking by the Legatum Institute in London.

In Washington D.C. this week to promote their findings, researchers with the Legatum Institute measure a nation’s prosperity on a number of factors including health, safety, education, economy, opportunity, social capital, governance and personal freedoms.

According to the 2014 Index (pdf) released earlier this month, in the measure of personal freedom, the United States has fallen from 9th place in 2010 to 21st worldwide—behind such countries as Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Uruguay and Costa Rica.