REGIME CLASSIFICATION EXERCISE
TYRANNY OF IDEAS - Monday Tutorial Group
Classification process part I
Our group has decided on the focus question ‘Were more autocratic states more likely to be involved in armed interstate conflicts 1970-2012?’ Our study will focus only on states with a population of 500,000 or greater inhabitants, so that most states will be investigated by more than one student.
In order to investigate the correlation between states’ regime types to answer our focus question, the regimes to be studied must first be classified in regards to their levels of autocracy. Our group has determined 12 questions to be answered about each state to quantify the level of autocracy within the state. There are 3 questions within each of our four spheres of investigation- elections, civil freedoms, leadership qualities and management of resources. The answer for each question is to be placed on a continuum from 1 to 5 (as shown below.) This is to account for the fact that these questions seldom produce straightforward yes or no answers, particularly in more complex regime types
1 – No
2 – More no than yes
3 – Neutral
4 – More yes than no
5 – Yes
The questions to be answered are as follows…
Classification Questions
Elections:
1. Is competitive opposition allowed by the incumbent leader?
2. Are elections independently ratified and administered?
3. Is universal suffrage experienced by all of voting age?
Civil Rights:
1. Within the regime is there a separation of powers between the executive and judiciary?
2. Is there a strong and independent media at work within the state?
3. Does the regime allow freedom of religion, association and assembly?
Leadership:
1. How easy is it for citizens to be politically involved (in the selectorate) ?
2. Is leadership able to be openly criticised?
3. Is leadership sustained without military intervention?
Resources:
1. Was there a growth in GDP over the period from 1970 - 2012?
2. Are citizens able to autonomously operate businesses?
3. Is there transparency in the government's economic expenditure?
1. Is competitive opposition allowed by the incumbent leader?
2. Are elections independently ratified and administered?
3. Is universal suffrage experienced by all of voting age?
Civil Rights:
1. Within the regime is there a separation of powers between the executive and judiciary?
2. Is there a strong and independent media at work within the state?
3. Does the regime allow freedom of religion, association and assembly?
Leadership:
1. How easy is it for citizens to be politically involved (in the selectorate) ?
2. Is leadership able to be openly criticised?
3. Is leadership sustained without military intervention?
Resources:
1. Was there a growth in GDP over the period from 1970 - 2012?
2. Are citizens able to autonomously operate businesses?
3. Is there transparency in the government's economic expenditure?
Classification process part II
Answering these questions will yield a score out of 60 for the state you are studying. This is the aggregate score. This score should then be divided by 12 to gather a final score out of five. This can again be placed on a continuum to rank each state in regards to one another.
1 – Most autocratic
2 – More autocratic than democratic
3 – Neutral
4 – More democratic than autocratic
5 – Most democratic
Once states have been classified as regards to their levels of democracy vs. autocracy, we can then ask the focus question of each state studied in order to observe trends.
Recommended Resources
There are a vast range of sources from which reliable information about your state can be found. We have listed here a few particularly helpful sites.
Press watchdog: www.nieman.harvard.edu/reports
Press freedom index: www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010
Country background: www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
Free Society index: www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=594
Electoral democracy index: www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=493
Corruption index: www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/
Government webpages (beware of bias)
Opposition parties’ webpages (beware of bias)
Scholarly articles from reputable source
Good focus question!
ReplyDeleteBut why are these criteria precisely used to think about the level of autocracy? Is there something that ties these four aspects of a state together?
Here are some other points to consider: Why are the questions under "resources" important to understand the level of autocracy? Would China be less autocratic because it has grown fast in the last 30 years? And is this countered by the fact that citizens were not allowed to operate private businesses? Finally, why focus on transparency, and how would we measure it?
Also, why divide the final score by 12? Why not just use the 60 point scale, and avoid labels?
This is a very clever and interesting focus question. But I am too wondering about the significance of resources in understanding autocracy - in particular the growth of GDP being attributed to a more democratic system of govt.
ReplyDeleteQatar, by Freedom House standards, is not considered free (media, etc). But the GDP growth forecast for Qatar in 2011 was above 15%, the fastest in the world according to the Economist.
I think that this classification system is good so far, I am just wondering what the reasoning is behind dividing the score by twelve? Could this not get confusing? I think it could be better to have the scale out of 60 to avoid confusion and to simplify it. Also could you perhaps explain as to what you mean by 'resources', 'leadership' etc to make it more user friendly for others to use?
ReplyDeleteI really like the focus question and think that it could make for some really interesting research. I do have a couple of questions relating to the resource questions, however.
ReplyDelete1) By what measure or to what extent would you define the transparency?
2) "government's economic expenditure" sounds a wee bit iffy? Does "economic" encompass the likes of health, education, infrastructure etc? Could it not just be titled "government expenditure" because it's the same thing?