Measuring Regime Type

Poster Number

17C

Lead Author Major

International Relations

Lead Author Status

Senior

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

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Apr 27th, 12:30 PM Apr 27th, 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.