Country profile
Morocco
Al Mamlakah al Maghribiyah
Africa · Northern Africa
MA · MAR
- Capital
- Rabat
- Population
- 36,828,330
- Area
- 446,550 km²
- Democracy index
- 43
- Regime type
- Electoral Autocracy
Events
Ballots from Morocco
The latest elections, referendums, and opinion polls from Morocco. Community totals are not official results.
Soon(1)1 published ballot
Classification
Democracy profile
The score and regime label are assigned by Porto Voto using our in-house democracy index and classification framework, not ratings from governments or external agencies.
Democracy index
43/100
Regime type
Electoral Autocracy
Morocco operates under an established constitutional monarchy where deep structural power remains concentrated within the royal palace, keeping the nation within the bounds of an electoral autocracy. While the kingdom maintains a multi party parliament and holds regular legislative contests, such as the upcoming elections scheduled for September 2026, the political landscape is highly uneven. King Mohammed VI retains ultimate authority over essential state domains including defense, foreign policy, and internal security affairs, which prevents the elected government from exercising full sovereign leadership. Activists, journalists, and civil society groups frequently face legal pressure and state monitoring when addressing sensitive political topics or economic inequalities. While the judicial framework has seen gradual modernizations, the courts lack complete autonomy when ruling on matters that intersect with state security or royal interests. Authentic institutional checks are severely limited, leaving Morocco with functioning administrative structures that ultimately protect a highly centralized executive paradigm.
Last evaluation:
How we classify regimes →World Factbook
Country background
A concise introduction to Morocco, together with notes on how power and law are organized, to put local ballots in context.
In 788, about a century after the Arab conquest of North Africa, a series of Muslim dynasties began to rule in Morocco. In the 16th century, the Sa'adi monarchy, particularly under Ahmad al-MANSUR (1578-1603), repelled foreign invaders and inaugurated a golden age. The Alaouite Dynasty, to which the current Moroccan royal family belongs, dates from the 17th century.
In 1860, Spain occupied northern Morocco and ushered in a half-century of trade rivalry among European powers that saw Morocco's sovereignty steadily erode; in 1912, the French imposed a protectorate over the country. A protracted independence struggle with France ended successfully in 1956. The internationalized city of Tangier and most Spanish possessions were turned over to the new country that same year.
Sultan MOHAMMED V, the current monarch's grandfather, organized the new state as a constitutional monarchy and in 1957 assumed the title of king. Since Spain's 1976 withdrawal from Western Sahara, Morocco has extended its de facto administrative control to roughly 75% of this territory; however, the UN does not recognize Morocco as the administering power for Western Sahara. The UN since 1991 has monitored a cease-fire, which broke down in late 2020, between Morocco and the Polisario Front -- an organization advocating the territory’s independence -- and restarted negotiations over the status of the territory in 2018.
In 2020, the US recognized Morocco's sovereignty over all of Western Sahara. In 2011, King MOHAMMED VI responded to the spread of pro-democracy protests in the North Africa region by implementing a reform program that included a new constitution, passed by popular referendum, under which some new powers were extended to parliament and the prime minister, but ultimate authority remains in the hands of the monarch. Later that year, the Justice and Development Party (PJD) -- a moderate Islamist democratic party -- won the largest number of seats in parliamentary elections, becoming the first Islamist party to lead the Moroccan Government.
In 2015, Morocco held its first direct elections for regional councils, which was one of the reforms included in the 2011 constitution. The PJD again won the largest number of seats in nationwide parliamentary elections in 2016, but it lost its plurality to the probusiness National Rally of Independents (RNI) in 2021. In 2020, Morocco signed a normalization agreement with Israel, similar to those that Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Sudan had concluded with Israel earlier that year.