One of the things that I remember being taught as a child was that the US is a “free country”, as opposed to other countries elsewhere where the people did not have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, or the right to vote meaningfully. Particular ire was levied against the Soviet Union as a dastardly enemy of freedom. Later on in life (high school maybe), I learned that many other countries were “free” in the sense of the people having the right to vote for the leaders of their choice, to speak their mind, and worship at the church of their choice, such as Canada and Mexico. I seemed to remember shocking someone when I spoke about Mexico being a “free country” - poorer yes, but still free. It wasn’t like the Mexican Government was arresting newspaper reporters and shutting down churches. Even later on, I learned that one difference between the US and some other free countries was that the US had a long tradition of de jure freedoms, many of them enshrined in the Constitution, while in many other countries that I considered free, those freedoms were merely statutory (dependent on the whims of the legislature - i.e. much easier to obliterate than it is to change the US Constitution) or de facto (dependent on decision makers continuing to exercise discretion to treat people in a free manner even though no law requires them to do so, but only social pressure). For example, in theory, the monarch of the UK must approve all legislation for it to become law. In practice, no UK monarch has withheld Royal Assent since 1707 and it is unlikely it will ever be withheld again due to the enormous social pressure placed on the monarch, but the reality remains that if Elizabeth decides not to approve a law, her decision cannot be appealed or reviewed in any UK court.
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What is the definition of a “free country”?
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What countries are “free” today? If you have multiple definitions for the term “free country”, indicate which countries are associated with which definitions.