Your task:
To apply two measures of democracy (by Freedom House and V-Dem) to the same country for the period 1974 to the present.
To compare the merits and demerits of the two measures both theoretically and empirically with respect to the country in question.
Maximum length of assignment: 1.500 words (everything included, except a possible appendix).
Information on the measures of the democracy can be found at:
Freedom House (https://freedomhouse.org/)
V-Dem (https://www.v-dem.net/)
Checklist for assignment:
Describe and compare the nature of the measures: Is the measure continuous (measuring degrees), dichotomous (using two categories) or trichotomous (using three categories)? With respect to your country, what are the advantages and disadvantages of using degrees versus categories? What information is gained, what information is lost? If the same measure uses both degrees and categories, how are these related? Where is the boundary drawn and how is this justified? With respect to your country, does the boundary make sense? What does it mean, for your country, to have an aggregate score of, for example, 2 on the combined political rights and civil liberties scale of Freedom House?
For Freedom House, make use of the continuous score (1-7), basic categories (free, partly free, not free), and the country’s status as electoral democracy or not (for the years available). Optional: Consider the scores for the subcategories and the points (0-100) (for the years available): What do they add to the picture in your country?
For V-Dem, work with the electoral and/or liberal democracy index.
Prepare tables or graphs for both measures of democracy over time
(possibly as appendix).
Compare the picture the two measures give of the state of democracy
and its development over time, highlighting similarities and differences.
Please make explicit use of Freedom House country reports
Check whether any differences can be explained by differences in the
definition of democracy.
Check whether any differences can be explained by differences in the
operationalization of democracy.
Check whether any differences can be explained by differences in the
sources used (What kind of information does the measure require? Does it rely on existing data or does it collect its own data? How valid and reliable are these data? How transparent is the coding process?)
Make explicit reference to Boese (2019)
Finish with a conclusion (evaluation): Which measure, according to
your informed opinion, works best for your country? Why?
