Measuring High Level Democratic Principles using the V-Dem Data
Abstract
While the definition of extended conceptions of democracy has been widely discussed, the measurement of these constructs has not attracted similar attention. In this paper we present new measures of polyarchy, liberal democracy, deliberative democracy, egalitarian democracy, and participatory democracy that cover most polities in the period 1900 to 2013. These indices are based on data from a large number of indicators collected through the Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) project. A discussion of the theoretical considerations and the concrete formula linked to our aggregation of indicators and components into high level measures is followed by an illustration of how these measures reflect variations in quality of democracy, given the respective ideals, in 2012. In the conclusion we urge scholars to make use of the rich dataset made available by V-Dem.
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Date
2015Author
Coppedge, Michael
Lindberg, Staffan I.
Skaaning, Svend-Erik
Teorell, Jan
Series/Report no.
Working Papers
2015:6
Language
eng