Measuring Regime Type
Poster Number
17C
Format
Poster Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Dari Sylvester Tran
Faculty Mentor Department
Political Science
Abstract/Artist Statement
In this paper, I create a new measure of regime type and examine the implication that using such a measure would have on existing scholarship. Existing measures are highly correlated with one another, which points to their external validity, but they often lack conceptual validity. A new measure, focused on those aspects of a government most minimally necessary for democracy, is a step toward improving that. In this measure, a democracy is considered to have (1) competitive elections, (2) a broad electorate, (3) transparency, and (4) actual authority of elected officials. Authoritarianism is considered a residual category where those countries not considered “real” democracies are placed. However, by coding each of the four necessary factors for democracy as a different binary variable (1=true, 0=false), there is greater conceptual flexibility in coding regimes according to their unique qualities.
Location
DeRosa University Center Ballroom
Start Date
27-4-2018 12:30 PM
End Date
27-4-2018 2:30 PM
Measuring Regime Type
DeRosa University Center Ballroom
In this paper, I create a new measure of regime type and examine the implication that using such a measure would have on existing scholarship. Existing measures are highly correlated with one another, which points to their external validity, but they often lack conceptual validity. A new measure, focused on those aspects of a government most minimally necessary for democracy, is a step toward improving that. In this measure, a democracy is considered to have (1) competitive elections, (2) a broad electorate, (3) transparency, and (4) actual authority of elected officials. Authoritarianism is considered a residual category where those countries not considered “real” democracies are placed. However, by coding each of the four necessary factors for democracy as a different binary variable (1=true, 0=false), there is greater conceptual flexibility in coding regimes according to their unique qualities.
