V-Dem Democracy indices

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The V-Dem Democracy Indices is a dataset that describe qualities of different governments published by V-Dem Institute. This dataset is published on an annual basis and is publicly available and free. [1] In particular, the V-Dem dataset is a popular dataset among political scientists used to describe the characteristics of political regimes around the world. In total, datasets released by the V-Dem Institute include information on hundreds of indicator variables describing all aspects of government, especially on the quality of democracy, inclusivity, and other economic indicators. An R package automatically bundles new data. [2]

Contents

The V-Dem Institute's measures of democracy are the most elaborate and granular among several democracy indexes (such as the Polity data series and Freedom House's Freedom in the World ). [3] By 2020, the V-Dem index had "more than 470 indicators, 82 mid-level indices, and 5 high-level indices covering 202 polities from the period of 1789–2019". [3] Each indicator is coded independently by at least five country experts. [3] V-Dem uses methodological tools to deal with rating reliability and confidence intervals in the expert ratings. [3] Political scientist Daniel Hegedus describes V-Dem as "the most important provider of quantitative democracy data for scholarly research". [3]

Democracy indices

Regimes of the World

The Regimes of the World (RoW) [4] [5] distinguishes four types of political systems: closed autocracies, electoral autocracies, electoral democracies, and liberal democracie, this classification is built on V-Dem Democracy Core indices. [6]

   Liberal democracy: "electoral democracy and citizens enjoy individual and minority rights, are equal before the law, and the actions of the executive are constrained by the legislative and the courts"
   Electoral democracy: "citizens have the right to choose the chief executive and the legislature in meaningful, free and fair, and multi-party elections"
   Electoral autocracy: "citizens have the right to choose the chief executive and the legislature through multi-party elections; but they lack some freedoms, such as the freedoms of association or expression that make the elections meaningful, free, and fair"
   Closed autocracy: "citizens do not have the right to choose either the chief executive of the government or the legislature through multi-party elections"
  Geographic areas without data

V-Dem Core

The V-Dem institute publishes, as of 2022, 483 indicators unique to V-Dem institute and republishes 59 other indicators. [7] [8] V-Dem publishes five core indices with several other supplementary indices. The core indices are the electoral democracy index, the liberal democracy index, the participatory democracy index, the Deliberative Democracy Index and the egalitarian democracy index. [9]

Map of V-Dem's 2023 Index of Liberal Democracy [10]
Red indicates more authoritarian, green indicates more democratic.

The Electoral Democracy Index
This index measures the principle of electoral or representative democracy, including whether elections were free and fair, as well as the prevalence of a free and independent media. This index is part of all the other indices as a central component of democracy. [11]
Liberal Democracy Index
This index incorporates measures of rule of law, checks and balances, and civil liberties along with the concepts measured in the electoral democracy index. [11]
Participatory Democracy Index
This index measures the degree to which citizens participate in their own government through local democratic institutions, civil society organizations, direct democracy, and the concepts measured in the electoral democracy index. [11]
Deliberative Democracy Index
This index measures the degree to which decisions are made in the best interest of the people as opposed to due to coercion or narrow interest groups, in addition to the basic electoral democracy index. [11]
Egalitarian Democracy Index
This index measures the level of equal access to resources, power, and freedoms across various groups within a society, in addition to the level of electoral democracy. [11]

Other Indices

The V-Dem institute publishes several other[ which? ] indices which are created, in part, with the assistance of other V-Dem indices.

Rankings

The table below shows how countries score on the 5 high-level V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023. [10]

V-Dem Democracy Indices (13th edition)
CountryElectoral DemocracyLiberal DemocracyParticipatory DemocracyDeliberative DemocracyEgalitarian Democracy
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 0.9160.8890.7020.8770.878
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 0.8990.8570.6450.8720.86
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 0.8990.870.6430.8060.816
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg  Switzerland 0.8980.8510.8010.8630.834
Flag of Estonia.svg  Estonia 0.8930.8470.6190.7540.798
Flag of Ireland.svg  Ireland 0.8890.8240.6340.8080.792
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 0.8890.8340.670.7790.786
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 0.8870.8250.6330.8120.823
Flag of Luxembourg.svg  Luxembourg 0.8810.7970.5840.8390.822
Flag of France.svg  France 0.8740.8030.6020.8060.753
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 0.8730.7910.6180.7650.724
Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica 0.8710.8210.6270.8210.771
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 0.8610.8160.6120.7920.779
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 0.8580.8140.6140.7860.726
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 0.8570.8070.6150.8160.792
Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic 0.8530.7840.5650.740.772
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 0.8520.80.580.8040.765
Flag of Slovakia.svg  Slovakia 0.8510.7790.6120.6050.702
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 0.8470.7390.60.7150.669
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 0.8460.7530.580.7370.723
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 0.8440.7660.6680.7680.775
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom 0.8430.7660.6030.730.705
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 0.8330.7360.5370.7440.761
Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan 0.8310.7250.660.7340.745
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 0.8230.6420.560.6420.642
Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia 0.8210.730.5830.6890.695
Flag of the United States.svg  United States of America 0.8190.7410.5820.7110.582
Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 0.8190.7320.60.7140.73
Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea 0.8120.7320.5390.6820.698
Flag of Chile.svg  Chile 0.8110.7550.5710.7580.619
Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay 0.8040.7150.6390.6620.632
Flag of Slovenia.svg  Slovenia 0.7990.7040.5790.7020.685
Flag of Jamaica.svg  Jamaica 0.7970.6950.5290.6780.659
Flag of Lithuania.svg  Lithuania 0.7970.7410.5880.6480.687
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 0.7940.70.5560.6710.71
Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago 0.7840.6660.5030.7130.629
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 0.7830.60.5360.6840.659
Flag of Malta.svg  Malta 0.7820.6410.5550.6340.692
Flag of Barbados.svg  Barbados 0.7820.6660.3310.6870.651
Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus 0.7770.6440.4790.630.672
Flag of Vanuatu.svg  Vanuatu 0.7710.6560.4830.6150.596
Flag of Suriname.svg  Suriname 0.770.6530.4980.6060.579
Flag of Seychelles.svg  Seychelles 0.7610.6750.3250.6880.634
Flag of Moldova.svg  Moldova 0.7520.6420.520.6740.582
Flag of Cape Verde.svg  Cape Verde 0.750.6470.4660.6180.565
Flag of Peru.svg  Peru 0.7440.6270.5170.4440.455
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 0.7380.6480.5070.5870.577
Flag of Panama.svg  Panama 0.7290.5560.4320.560.445
Flag of Israel.svg  Israel 0.7230.650.4730.6120.591
Flag of East Timor.svg  Timor-Leste 0.6950.5040.4320.4970.434
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 0.6920.5810.430.5980.479
Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal 0.690.5320.3860.5630.517
Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia 0.6890.5410.470.5370.381
Flag of Romania.svg  Romania 0.6890.5470.4990.350.482
Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria 0.6880.6130.4860.5880.546
Flag of Sao Tome and Principe.svg  Sao Tome and Principe 0.6840.5780.4290.5210.488
Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic 0.6790.4650.460.6050.369
Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 0.6780.5230.4240.4480.324
Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador 0.6570.50.4620.4610.41
Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia 0.6470.5040.4080.5320.515
Flag of Nepal.svg  Nepal 0.6460.5010.4270.3940.419
Flag of Armenia.svg  Armenia 0.6450.4450.4010.5020.54
Flag of Malawi.svg  Malawi 0.6420.5380.4060.5110.382
Flag of Lesotho.svg  Lesotho 0.6410.5040.4010.4930.505
Flag of Liberia.svg  Liberia 0.6340.4610.350.4280.41
Flag of Namibia.svg  Namibia 0.6340.5070.3810.4630.323
Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana 0.6330.5430.3160.5260.47
Flag of The Gambia.svg  The Gambia 0.620.4960.3950.4580.421
Flag of the Solomon Islands.svg  Solomon Islands 0.6180.4760.3660.3590.343
Flag of Kosovo.svg  Kosovo 0.6180.4630.360.4140.432
Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 0.5980.3460.40.3580.331
Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg  Bolivia 0.5970.3480.4170.3540.4
Flag of Maldives.svg  Maldives 0.5830.440.3230.430.402
Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay 0.5810.4330.3540.3460.252
Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana 0.5770.4620.3750.3780.399
Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka 0.5750.4120.3430.3280.369
Flag of Poland.svg  Poland 0.5740.4250.3530.3580.494
Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia 0.5740.4220.3850.4870.316
Flag of Mongolia.svg  Mongolia 0.5660.4310.2930.4340.38
Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone 0.5590.4240.3620.5080.394
Flag of Honduras.svg  Honduras 0.5560.4020.350.3770.253
Flag of North Macedonia.svg  North Macedonia 0.5510.3650.3690.3710.364
Flag of Bhutan.svg  Bhutan 0.5350.4340.3280.4950.446
Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana 0.5350.3650.3120.260.38
Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0.5280.3650.3180.3550.366
Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya 0.5220.4250.360.4490.353
Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius 0.5210.3850.3360.4550.409
Flag of Zambia.svg  Zambia 0.5180.4330.3520.4620.321
Flag of Niger.svg  Niger 0.5110.3820.3290.4610.354
Flag of Montenegro.svg  Montenegro 0.5010.4040.30.3890.401
Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar 0.4950.2590.2930.2830.217
Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria 0.490.320.3270.3220.266
Flag of Albania.svg  Albania 0.4840.4090.30.2730.355
Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg  Papua New Guinea 0.4580.3660.2750.2730.268
Flag of Benin.svg  Benin 0.450.3050.2660.2970.35
Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary 0.4450.3370.2940.2130.324
Flag of Malaysia.svg  Malaysia 0.4380.3040.2550.3230.339
Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast 0.4370.2390.3040.3990.258
Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala 0.4350.2630.2590.2390.174
Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines 0.4310.2830.2870.360.193
Flag of Togo.svg  Togo 0.4260.2390.2730.3590.313
Flag of Lebanon.svg  Lebanon 0.4260.2580.2480.3190.26
Flag of Singapore.svg  Singapore 0.4250.3390.1210.3560.361
Flag of Somaliland.svg  Somaliland 0.4210.2610.2570.2620.172
Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine 0.4060.2340.2730.3510.317
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 0.4060.2670.2150.3030.282
Flag of India.svg  India 0.3990.3060.2620.2950.235
Flag of Tanzania.svg  Tanzania 0.3980.3590.2640.3340.348
Flag of Mauritania.svg  Mauritania 0.3950.1630.260.280.133
Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 0.3880.260.2560.320.156
Flag of Kyrgyzstan.svg  Kyrgyzstan 0.3820.2280.2040.2840.232
Flag of El Salvador.svg  El Salvador 0.3780.1470.2180.1490.144
Flag of Guinea-Bissau.svg  Guinea-Bissau 0.3710.1520.1710.1940.217
Flag of Gabon.svg  Gabon 0.3690.2090.2520.2820.28
Flag of Iraq.svg  Iraq 0.3620.1970.1950.2220.187
Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique 0.3620.2430.2290.2250.244
Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia 0.3610.2650.250.2310.316
Flag of Angola.svg  Angola 0.3440.1740.1120.1630.145
Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  Democratic Republic of the Congo 0.3370.1540.1860.2750.182
Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic 0.3210.170.1310.170.155
Flag of Ethiopia.svg  Ethiopia 0.3190.1520.1680.2580.22
Flag of Kuwait.svg  Kuwait 0.3170.3010.1010.2670.236
Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 0.3070.2230.2230.2930.305
Flag of Cameroon.svg  Cameroon 0.2970.1370.1220.1220.191
Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso 0.2950.2190.1830.2730.23
Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda 0.2850.20.180.2620.173
Flag of Zimbabwe.svg  Zimbabwe 0.2850.1860.2150.2150.189
Flag of the Comoros.svg  Comoros 0.2840.1150.2060.1910.226
Flag of Zanzibar.svg  Zanzibar 0.2840.2330.1730.2640.256
Flag of Algeria.svg  Algeria 0.2810.1340.110.1840.26
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg  Kazakhstan 0.2770.140.1140.1780.224
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 0.2760.1180.1640.0840.209
Flag of Bangladesh.svg  Bangladesh 0.2740.1090.1270.1210.114
Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco 0.2640.2510.1610.2550.208
Flag of Palestine.svg  Palestine (West Bank)0.260.1390.1730.1480.211
Flag of Jordan.svg  Jordan 0.2590.2490.120.220.203
Flag of Djibouti.svg  Djibouti 0.2550.1250.1510.1470.192
Flag of Haiti.svg  Haiti 0.2480.1550.1090.2150.07
Flag of Mali.svg  Mali 0.2350.1530.1750.2520.198
Flag of the Republic of the Congo.svg  Republic of the Congo 0.2340.1070.1890.1930.131
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda 0.2280.1170.1720.2130.211
Flag of Uzbekistan.svg  Uzbekistan 0.2210.0810.0640.160.16
Flag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela 0.2140.0640.1590.0410.106
Flag of Libya.svg  Libya 0.2130.110.1560.2290.15
Flag of Russia.svg  Russia 0.2090.0710.1420.0730.15
Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand 0.2060.1790.1090.0730.16
Flag of Cambodia.svg  Cambodia 0.2060.0630.1170.0670.092
Flag of Guinea.svg  Guinea 0.1910.0980.170.080.132
Flag of Burundi.svg  Burundi 0.1890.0790.0870.0790.107
Flag of Azerbaijan.svg  Azerbaijan 0.1880.0630.0590.0480.098
Flag of Iran.svg  Iran 0.1820.1050.0470.0930.171
Flag of Cuba.svg  Cuba 0.1780.0560.0880.0980.229
Flag of Nicaragua.svg  Nicaragua 0.1770.0340.1140.0280.081
Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt 0.1750.1180.0920.0910.093
Flag of Belarus.svg  Belarus 0.1750.0420.0590.0390.224
Flag of Tajikistan.svg  Tajikistan 0.1750.0480.0540.0550.07
Flag of Equatorial Guinea.svg  Equatorial Guinea 0.1720.0510.0480.0430.111
Flag of Oman.svg  Oman 0.170.1370.1210.0620.185
Flag of Sudan.svg  Sudan 0.1690.0740.090.0630.102
Flag of Somalia.svg  Somalia 0.1620.1010.090.1450.081
Flag of Vietnam.svg  Vietnam 0.1570.1150.1590.1740.194
Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong 0.1540.1260.0560.0480.191
Flag of Turkmenistan.svg  Turkmenistan 0.1490.0350.0320.0250.088
Flag of Chad.svg  Chad 0.140.0310.0870.1010.069
Flag of Palestine.svg  Palestine (Gaza)0.1380.0810.1220.0710.165
Flag of Syria.svg  Syria 0.1380.0330.0510.0340.054
Flag of Laos.svg  Laos 0.1340.1080.1150.0570.129
Flag of South Sudan.svg  South Sudan 0.1290.0590.050.0360.036
Flag of Yemen.svg  Yemen 0.1230.0450.0690.030.026
Flag of Bahrain.svg  Bahrain 0.1220.0550.0360.0680.113
Flag of Eswatini.svg  Eswatini 0.120.0960.0790.0360.061
Flag of the United Arab Emirates.svg  United Arab Emirates 0.1010.0860.0320.0860.136
Flag of Myanmar.svg  Myanmar 0.0930.0460.0930.0620.067
Flag of Qatar.svg  Qatar 0.0880.0830.0220.1040.099
Flag of North Korea.svg  North Korea 0.0870.010.0450.0110.084
Flag of the Taliban.svg  Afghanistan 0.0820.0280.0190.0250.019
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China 0.0750.040.0420.0790.088
Flag of Eritrea.svg  Eritrea 0.0730.0120.0110.0330.124
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 0.0160.0430.0260.060.109

Impact and usage

Countries autocratizing (red) or democratizing (blue) substantially and significantly (2010-2020). Countries in grey are substantially unchanged. Countries democratizing or autocratizing substantially and significantly 2010-2020.svg
Countries autocratizing (red) or democratizing (blue) substantially and significantly (2010–2020). Countries in grey are substantially unchanged.

A variety of other organizations use V-Dem's dataset in the construction of their indicators. [13] [14] USAID's Journey to Self Reliance Country Roadmap uses V-Dem's data to inform three of its indicators: Liberal Democracy (from V-Dem's Liberal Democracy Index), Social Group Equality (from V-Dem's Social Group Equality in Respect for Civil Liberties) and Civil Society and Media Effectiveness (from V-Dem's Diagonal Accountability Index). [13] The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators also use V-Dem's data to inform their Control of Corruption indicator (includes V-Dem's Corruption index), Rule of Law Indicator (includes V-Dem's liberal component index), and the Voice and Accountability Indicator (includes V-Dem's Expanded freedom of expression, Freedom of association, and Clean elections indicators). [14]

Digital Society Project

The Digital Society Project is a subset of indicators on V-Dem's survey which asks questions about the political status of social media and the internet. [11] Specifically, the Digital Society Project measures a range of questions related to internet censorship, misinformation online, and internet shutdowns. [15] This annual report includes 35 indicators assessing five areas: disinformation, digital media freedom, state regulation of digital media, polarization of online media, and online social cleavages. [16] [17] It has been updated each year starting in 2019, with data covering from 2000-2021. [16] Similar to other expert analyses like Freedom House, these data are more prone to false positives when compared with remotely sensed data, such as that from Access Now or the OpenNet Initiative. [17]

Criticisms

V-Dem rankings were criticized by political sociologist Salvatore Babones for their decision to downgrade India while under Narendra Modi's premiership and called for a retraction; noting their evidence to be flawed and wildly disproportionate. While he agreed that the statistical models used by V-Dem for ranking countries are world-class the problem with indices, according to him, derives from "idiosyncratic choice of indicators", "inexplicable scaling decisions", and "vulnerability to expert biases". [18] [19] He found that V-Dem electoral indicators are unable to differentiate between genuine & 'sham' democracies because of which one-party dictatorships can score higher than real democracies on election quality. [20] [21] Political scientist Asutosh Varshney found V-Dem's proposition that India is an electoral autocracy an "overstretched claim". [22]

Political scientist Jonas Wolff criticized V-Dem for gradually abandoning a pluralist conceptualization of democracy. According to him, V-Dem has moved away from its original emphasis on the conceptual varieties of democracy and adopted an uncontested view of democracy as a liberal democracy while also ignoring the limitations of liberal democracy. [23]


See also

Related Research Articles

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References

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  2. V-Dem Institute (2022). "The V-Dem Dataset" . Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Hegedüs, Daniel (2020). "Varieties of Democracy: Measuring Two Centuries of Political Change. By Michael Coppedge, John Gerring, Adam Glynn, Carl Henrik Knutsen, Staffan I. Lindberg, Daniel Pemstein, Brigitte Seim, Svend-Erik Skaaning, and Jan Teorell. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. 226p. $99.99 cloth". Perspectives on Politics. 18 (4): 1258–1260. doi: 10.1017/S1537592720003059 . ISSN   1537-5927.
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  5. Herre, Bastian (December 2, 2021). "The 'Regimes of the World' data: how do researchers measure democracy?". Our World in Data . Retrieved March 12, 2023.
  6. Herre, Bastian; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Roser, Max (2013-03-15). "Democracy". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
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Further reading