Freedom in the World: 1997-1998: The Annual Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, 1997-1998

The Comparative Survey of Freedom is an institutional effort by Freedom House to monitor the progress and decline of political rights and civil lib­erties in 191 nations and 59 related territories. These year-end reviews of freedom began in 1955, when they were called the Balance Sheet of Free­dom and, still later, the Annual Sur­vey of the Progress of Freedom. This program was expanded in the early 1970s, and has appeared in Freedom Review since 1973. It has also been issued in a more developed context as a yearbook since 1978.

Since 1989, the Survey project has been a year-long effort produced by regional experts, consultants and hu­man rights specialists. The Survey derives its information from a wide range of sources. Most valued of these are the many human rights activists, journalists, editors and political fig­ures around the world who keep us informed of the human rights situa­tion in their countries.

Throughout the year. Freedom House personnel regularly conduct fact-finding missions to gain more in-depth knowledge of the vast political transformations affecting our world. During these week-to-month-long in­vestigations, we make every effort to meet a cross-section of political par­ties and associations, human rights monitors, religious figures, represen­tatives of both the private sector and trade union movement, academics and journalists. During the past year. Free­dom House staff traveled to numerous countries throughout most of the world's geographical and political re­gions. The Survey project team also consults a vast array of published source materials, ranging from the reports of other human rights organi­zations to often rare, regional news­papers and magazines.

This year's Survey team includes: Adrian Karatnycky, Martin Edwin Anderson, Kristen Guida, Marshall Freeman Harris, Thomas R. Lansner, Arch Puddington, Leonard R. Sussman, and George Zarycky. The general edi­tor of Freedom in the World is Roger Kaplan; the managing editor is Tara Kelly. This year's research coordinator was Charles Graybow.