U.S. nongovernmental organization that promotes democracy and monitors the extent of political and economic freedom in countries throughout the world.

Freedom House was founded in 1941 by a bipartisan group that included Wendell Willkie (Willkie, Wendell L.), the Republican presidential nominee in 1940, and Eleanor Roosevelt (Roosevelt, Eleanor), wife of Democratic Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt (Roosevelt, Franklin D.). The founders believed that strengthening democracy was the best way to prevent the spread of totalitarian (totalitarianism) movements such as National Socialism (Nazism). Freedom House was an early proponent of the civil rights movement in the United States, and it took a strong stand against Sen. Joseph McCarthy (McCarthy, Joseph R.)'s persecution of individuals suspected, often groundlessly, of being communists. Through its offices worldwide, Freedom House measures civil liberties and political rights in more than 190 countries and several territories; the results are published in reports such as Freedom in the World, an annual survey that first appeared in 1973. Other surveys assess press freedom, conditions in former communist countries, human rights, and women's rights.