Data for Politics: Creating an International Research Infrastructure Measuring Democracy

Abstract

Summary Questions such as how democratic a country is, how free are its media, or how independent is its judiciary are highly important to researchers and decision makers. We describe a research infrastructure that produces the world's largest dataset on democracy, governance, human rights, and related topics. The dataset is far more resolved and accurate than previous efforts, currently covers 202 political units from 1789 until the present, and is regularly updated each spring. The infrastructure involves an online survey of over 3,000 experts from 180 countries. Survey design and advanced statistical techniques are crucial for assuring data validity. The infrastructure also provides reports and analyses based on the data and easy-to-use tools for exploring and graphing the data.