Freedom in the World

by Raymond D. Gastil

Published 1 December 1978

This yearbook marks the thirteenth year of the Comparative Survey of Freedom and is the seventh edition in the Freedom House series of annual publications. In addition to the ratings and tables of the Comparative Survey, this volume contains an extensive discussion of the criteria for and definitions of freedom. For the first time ever, the yearbook includes the checklist of political rights and civil liberties that forms the basis of the Survey's ratings system. Summary discussions of the status of freedom in each country and related territories are included. This edition also examines the continuing controversy over the role of and regulations appropriate to the news media in the ongoing struggle for greater political, social, and economic freedom. It reports the outcome of a Freedom House-sponsored conference on strengthening American support for liberalization in Eastern Europe. Finally, the volume includes an assessment of the American campaign for democracy in the world and considers the opportunities and strategies appropriate to it.