Datasets

Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy

The Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy (LIED) incorporates binary coding of different features of political regimes, which are aggregated together using the cumulative logic of a lexical scale. This means that the index simultaneously performs a classificatory function, where each level identifies a unique regime type, as well as a discriminating function. The dataset covers all independent countries and most semi-sovereign polities and overseas colonies in the period 1789 to 2020. Parts of it are presented in Skaaning, Svend-Erik, John Gerring & Henrikas Bartusevičius (2015). "A Lexical Index of Electoral Democracy." Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 48, No. 12, pp. 1491-1525 (and previously in Working Paper 399 published by the Kellogg Institute of International Affairs). For a short description, see here. The most recent version of the dataset (and older versions) can be found on dataverse (http://thedata.harvard.edu/dvn/dv/skaaning). Version 6.0 updated for 2020 is available here. It includes new indicators on democratic transition, democratic breakdown, forms of democratic transitions and breakdowns, and government turnover. 


Civil Liberty Dataset (CLD)

The CLD includes indicators on fair trial, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, freedom of religion, and freedom of movement and residence, and fair trail for all independent countries in the period 1975-2020 (version 2.5). In the creation of the CLD, only the actual practices of states and their agents have been taken into account in the assignment of scores. The source for the coding is the US State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices supplemented by country reports from Freedom House and Bertelsmann Transformation Index and other country-specific accounts. Each of the five indicators has been coded based on a four-point scale (see codebook). The points denote situations where the respective civil liberties are severely restricted (1), fairly restricted (2), modestly restricted (3), and not restricted (4). The four points are anchored in an overall distinction between respective ideal typical characteristics of liberal, semi-liberal, illiberal, and anti-liberal regimes, with the two intermediate categories inserted symmetrically between the endpoints. For a detailed description of the dataset, and how it compares to extant alternatives, see Respect for Civil Liberties During the Third Wave of Democratization: Presenting a New Dataset.