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Polity data series

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Number of nations 1800–2003 scoring 8 or higher on the Polity IV scale, a measure of democracy.
World map showing findings from the Polity IV data series report for 2017.

The Polity data series is a data series in political science research.[1][2][3] Along with the V-Dem Democracy indices project and Democracy Index (The Economist), Polity is among prominent datasets that measure democracy and autocracy.[4][5][6][7][8]

The Polity study was initiated in the late 1960s by Ted Robert Gurr and is now continued by Monty G. Marshall, one of Gurr's students. It was sponsored by the Political Instability Task Force (PITF) until February 2020.[9] The PITF is funded by the Central Intelligence Agency.[10]

The data series has been criticized for its methodology, Americentrism, and connections to the CIA. Seva Gunitsky, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, stated that the data series was appropriate "for research that examines constraints on governing elites, but not for studying the expansion of suffrage over the nineteenth century".

Scoring chart

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Polity Score ranges from -10 to +10
Polity score range 10 6 to 9 1 to 5 -5 to 0 -10 to -6
Regime type Full Democracy Democracy Open Anocracy Closed Anocracy Autocracy

Scores for 2018

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Country Democracy score Autocracy score Polity IV score[11][12] Polity IV regime type
 Afghanistan 1 2 -1 Closed Anocracy
 Albania 9 0 9 Democracy
 Algeria 3 1 2 Open Anocracy
 Angola 2 4 -2 Closed Anocracy
 Argentina 9 0 9 Democracy
 Armenia 7 0 7 Democracy
 Australia 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Austria 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Azerbaijan 0 7 -7 Autocracy
 Bahrain 0 10 -10 Autocracy
 Bangladesh 0 6 -6 Autocracy
 Belarus 0 7 -7 Autocracy
 Belgium 8 0 8 Democracy
 Benin 7 0 7 Democracy
 Bhutan 7 0 7 Democracy
 Bolivia 7 0 7 Democracy
 Botswana 8 0 8 Democracy
 Brazil 8 0 8 Democracy
 Bulgaria 9 0 9 Democracy
 Burkina Faso 7 1 6 Democracy
 Burundi 2 3 -1 Closed Anocracy
 Cambodia 0 4 -4 Closed Anocracy
 Cameroon 1 5 -4 Closed Anocracy
 Canada 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Cape Verde 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Central African Republic 7 1 6 Democracy
 Chad 1 3 -2 Closed Anocracy
 Chile 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 China 0 7 -7 Autocracy
 Colombia 7 0 7 Democracy
 Comoros 0 3 -3 Closed Anocracy
Republic of the Congo Congo Brazzaville 0 4 -4 Closed Anocracy
Democratic Republic of the Congo Congo Kinshasa 1 4 -3 Closed Anocracy
 Costa Rica 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Croatia 9 0 9 Democracy
 Cuba 1 6 -5 Closed Anocracy
 Cyprus 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Czech Republic 9 0 9 Democracy
 Denmark 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Djibouti 3 0 3 Open Anocracy
 Dominican Republic 8 1 7 Democracy
 East Timor 9 1 8 Democracy
 Ecuador 6 1 5 Open Anocracy
 Egypt 0 4 -4 Closed Anocracy
 El Salvador 8 0 8 Democracy
 Equatorial Guinea 0 6 -6 Autocracy
 Eritrea 0 7 -7 Autocracy
 Estonia 9 0 9 Democracy
 Ethiopia 3 2 1 Open Anocracy
 Fiji 4 0 4 Open Anocracy
 Finland 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 France 9 0 9 Democracy
 Gabon 4 1 3 Open Anocracy
The Gambia Gambia 4 0 4 Open Anocracy
 Georgia 8 1 7 Democracy
 Germany 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Ghana 8 0 8 Democracy
 Greece 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Guatemala 9 1 8 Democracy
 Guinea 4 0 4 Open Anocracy
 Guinea-Bissau 7 1 6 Democracy
 Guyana 8 1 7 Democracy
 Haiti 6 1 5 Open Anocracy
 Honduras 7 0 7 Democracy
 Hungary 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 India 9 0 9 Democracy
 Indonesia 9 0 9 Democracy
 Iran 0 7 -7 Autocracy
 Iraq 6 0 6 Democracy
 Ireland 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Israel 7 1 6 Democracy
 Italy 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Ivory Coast 5 1 4 Open Anocracy
 Jamaica 9 0 9 Democracy
 Japan 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Jordan 2 5 -3 Closed Anocracy
 Kazakhstan 0 6 -6 Autocracy
 Kenya 9 0 9 Democracy
 Kosovo 8 0 8 Democracy
 Kuwait 0 7 -7 Autocracy
 Kyrgyzstan 8 0 8 Democracy
 Laos 0 7 -7 Autocracy
 Latvia 8 0 8 Democracy
 Lebanon 6 0 6 Democracy
 Lesotho 9 1 8 Democracy
 Liberia 8 1 7 Democracy
 Lithuania 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Luxembourg 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Republic of Macedonia 9 0 9 Democracy
 Madagascar 6 0 6 Democracy
 Malawi 6 0 6 Democracy
 Malaysia 7 0 7 Democracy
 Mali 6 1 5 Open Anocracy
 Mauritania 0 2 -2 Closed Anocracy
 Mauritius 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Mexico 8 0 8 Democracy
 Moldova 9 0 9 Democracy
 Mongolia 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Montenegro 9 0 9 Democracy
 Morocco 1 5 -4 Closed Anocracy
 Mozambique 6 1 5 Open Anocracy
 Myanmar 8 0 8 Democracy
 Namibia 6 0 6 Democracy
   Nepal 8 1 7 Democracy
 Netherlands 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 New Zealand 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Nicaragua 7 1 6 Democracy
 Niger 6 1 5 Open Anocracy
 Nigeria 8 1 7 Democracy
 North Korea 0 10 -10 Autocracy
 Norway 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Oman 0 8 -8 Autocracy
 Pakistan 7 0 7 Democracy
 Panama 9 0 9 Democracy
 Papua New Guinea 5 0 5 Open Anocracy
 Paraguay 9 0 9 Democracy
 Peru 9 0 9 Democracy
 Philippines 8 0 8 Democracy
 Poland 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Portugal 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Qatar 0 10 -10 Autocracy
 Romania 9 0 9 Democracy
 Russia 5 1 4 Open Anocracy
 Rwanda 0 3 -3 Closed Anocracy
 Saudi Arabia 0 10 -10 Autocracy
 Senegal 7 0 7 Democracy
 Serbia 9 1 8 Democracy
 Sierra Leone 8 1 7 Democracy
 Singapore 2 4 -2 Closed Anocracy
Slovakia Slovak Republic 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Slovenia 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Solomon Islands 9 1 8 Democracy
 Somalia 5 0 5 Open Anocracy
 South Africa 9 0 9 Democracy
 South Korea 8 0 8 Democracy
 Spain 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Sri Lanka 7 1 6 Democracy
 Sudan 0 4 -4 Closed Anocracy
 Suriname 6 1 5 Open Anocracy
 Swaziland 0 9 -9 Autocracy
 Sweden 10 0 10 Full Democracy
  Switzerland 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Syria 0 9 -9 Autocracy
 Taiwan 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Tajikistan 1 4 -3 Closed Anocracy
 Tanzania 4 1 3 Open Anocracy
 Thailand 0 3 -3 Closed Anocracy
 Togo 1 3 -2 Closed Anocracy
 Trinidad and Tobago 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Tunisia 7 0 7 Democracy
 Turkey 0 4 -4 Closed Anocracy
 Turkmenistan 0 8 -8 Autocracy
 Uganda 1 2 -1 Closed Anocracy
 Ukraine 5 1 4 Open Anocracy
 United Arab Emirates 0 8 -8 Autocracy
 United Kingdom 8 0 8 Democracy
 United States 8 0 8 Democracy
 Uruguay 10 0 10 Full Democracy
 Uzbekistan 0 9 -9 Autocracy
 Venezuela 1 4 -3 Closed Anocracy
 Vietnam 0 7 -7 Autocracy
 Zambia 6 0 6 Democracy
 Zimbabwe 5 1 4 Open Anocracy

Criticism

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The 2002 paper "Conceptualizing and Measuring Democracy" claimed several problems with commonly used democracy rankings, including Polity, opining that the criteria used to determine "democracy" were misleadingly narrow.[13]

The Polity data series has been criticized by Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting for its methodology and determination of what is and isn't a democracy. FAIR has criticized the data series for Americentrism with the United States being shown as the only democracy in the world in 1842, being given a nine out of ten during slavery, and a ten out of ten during the Jim Crow era. The organization has also been critical of the data series for ignoring European colonialism in Africa and Asia with those areas being labeled as no data before the 1960s. FAIR has also been critical of the data series' connection to the Central Intelligence Agency. Max Roser, the founder of Our World in Data, stated that Polity IV was far from perfect and was concerned at the data series' connections with the Central Intelligence Agency.[14]

Seva Gunitsky, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, wrote in The Washington Post where he stated that "Polity IV measures might be appropriate for research that examines constraints on governing elites, but not for studying the expansion of suffrage over the nineteenth century". Gunitsky was critical of the data series for ignoring suffrage.[15]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Casper, Gretchen, and Claudiu Tufis. 2003. "Correlation Versus Interchangeability: the Limited Robustness of Empirical Finding on Democracy Using Highly Correlated Data Sets." Political Analysis 11: 196-203.
  2. ^ "Despite global concerns about democracy, more than half of countries are democratic". Pew Research Center. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  3. ^ Hensel, Paul R. (2010). "Review of Available Data Sets". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.418. ISBN 978-0-19-084662-6. Retrieved 2021-07-16.
  4. ^ Högström, John (2013). "Does the Choice of Democracy Measure Matter? Comparisons between the Two Leading Democracy Indices, Freedom House and Polity IV". Government and Opposition. 48 (2): 201–221. doi:10.1017/gov.2012.10. ISSN 0017-257X. S2CID 19290786.
  5. ^ Coppedge, Michael; Lindberg, Staffan; Skaaning, Svend-Erik; Teorell, Jan (2016). "Measuring high level democratic principles using the V-Dem data". International Political Science Review. 37 (5): 580–593. doi:10.1177/0192512115622046. hdl:2077/38971. ISSN 0192-5121. JSTOR 26556873. S2CID 142135251.
  6. ^ Pelke, Lars; Croissant, Aurel (2021). "Conceptualizing and Measuring Autocratization Episodes". Swiss Political Science Review. 27 (2): 434–448. doi:10.1111/spsr.12437. ISSN 1662-6370.
  7. ^ Vaccaro, Andrea (2021-03-16). "Comparing measures of democracy: statistical properties, convergence, and interchangeability". European Political Science. 20 (4): 666–684. doi:10.1057/s41304-021-00328-8. ISSN 1682-0983.
  8. ^ Boese, Vanessa A (2019-06-01). "How (not) to measure democracy". International Area Studies Review. 22 (2): 95–127. doi:10.1177/2233865918815571. ISSN 2233-8659. S2CID 191935546.
  9. ^ "Polity". Polity. 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  10. ^ Polity IV Country Report 2010: Canada http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/Canada2010.pdf
  11. ^ "Polity IV Annual Time-Series, 1800-2018". Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  12. ^ "INSCR Data Page". 2019-06-02.
  13. ^ Gerardo L. Munck, Jay Verkuilen (February 2002), "Conceptualizing and measuring democracy: Evaluating Alternative Indices" (PDF), Comparative Political Studies, 35 (1): 5–34, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.469.3177, doi:10.1177/001041400203500101, S2CID 73722608
  14. ^ "Vox's CIA-Backed 'Democracy' Standard Is OK With Slavery and Women Not Voting". Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting. May 16, 2016. Archived from the original on July 15, 2021.
  15. ^ "How do you measure 'democracy'?". The Washington Post. June 23, 2015. Archived from the original on July 16, 2021.
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