Americans feel that their personal freedoms have significantly declined under President Barack Obama's rule, a new study from the Legatum Institute of London found.
Citizens of 20 other countries, including France, Uruguay and Costa Rica, now feel that they have more personal freedoms when compared to those of U.S. citizens.
The U.S. isn't even the freest country in the Americas, the study found. Canada placed 5th in terms of freedom, while the U.S. dropped to 21st.
The top three freest countries were New Zealand, Norway and Australia, according to the report.
The scores are based on polling data from 2013, which measured citizens' satisfaction with how their government handled civil liberties, freedom of choice, tolerance of ethnic minorities and tolerance of immigrants.
Instead of measuring freedom based on government policies, the Legatum report is unique in that it actually asks citizens how free they feel. The report also measures economic strength and various metrics that correlate with happiness over general well-being.
And when it comes to safety and security, the U.S. ranked even lower - 31st out of 142 countries.
"This is not a good report for Obama," Legatum spokeswoman Cristina Odone told the Washington Examiner. Odone and other Legatum representatives began presenting the report in Washington Tuesday.
"People with the freedom to choose the course of their lives are more satisfied than those who are not and freer societies encourage higher levels of income," the report noted. "The Personal Freedom sub-index measures the performance and progress of nations in guaranteeing individual freedom and encouraging social tolerance."
When it comes to the well-being of citizens, Uzbekistan ranked first, followed by New Zealand and Australia.
Such a cross-country comparison should be taken with a grain of salt, because various countries may have different perceptions of what exactly freedom means.
Regardless of how the U.S. compares to other countries, there is no denying that Americans felt less free in 2013 after four more years of Obama's presidency. And so now he faces the embarrassment of being the president that made Americans feel less free than the French, the Washington Examiner reported.
