How to Construct a Database of Liberal Democratic Performance
Titel:
How to Construct a Database of Liberal Democratic Performance
Auteur:
Foweraker, J. Krznaric, R.
Verschenen in:
Democratization
Paginering:
Jaargang 8 (2001) nr. 3 pagina's 1-25
Jaar:
2001
Inhoud:
Measures of democracy have multiplied over the past 20 years, but few studies explain how these measures are constructed. There is little discussion either of their conceptual underpinnings or of their composition and selection. This article aims to make the measures more transparent by examining the decisions that shaped the construction of a new Database of Liberal Democratic Performance. The Database is designed to compare the quality of democracy across 40 country cases from 1970 to 1998 inclusive, and contains 21 measures of democratic performance. The article describes three kinds of decision regarding, first, the definition of democracy, second, the objectives of the study, and third, the selection of the measures themselves. Clear objectives are a precondition of selecting appropriate measures that are fit for their purpose. The selection of measures depends not only on definition and objectives but also on the availability and quality of existing measures and raw data. Reasons are given for rejecting many of the extant measures, and the final selection is discussed and justified, measure by measure. The conclusion reflects on limitations of data and resources and assesses the potential utility of the Database.
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