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Classifying political regimes has never been more difficult. Most contemporary regimes hold de-jure multiparty elections with universal suffrage. In some countries, elections ensure that political rulers are—at least somewhat—accountable to the electorate whereas in others they are a mere window dressing exercise for authoritarian politics. Hence,...
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Context 1
... Version 7.1 cov- ers 178 countries from 1900 to 2016 (Coppedge et al., 2017a(Coppedge et al., , 2017b(Coppedge et al., , 2017cPemstein et al., 2017). Figure 1 portrays the step- wise decision rules. To qualify as an (electoral) democ- racy, regimes must fulfil three necessary conditions. ...
Context 2
... overlap of observations between our RoW mea- sure with Boix et al. (2013) (11, 262 cases) is the sec- ond largest, with a rate of agreement on classification in 90.8% of these observations ( Figure 5 [A]). The level of agreement increases to 93.5% if we exclude observa- tions that fall into the ambiguous categories according to RoW. ...
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Citations
... Por un lado, están las concepciones que consideran a los regímenes híbridos como una modalidad distintiva de régimen político, un tipo de régimen ubicado en un punto intermedio entre modelos antagónicos e incompatibles entre sí, como la democracia y la autocracia (eiu, 2024;Freedom-House, 2024;Gilbert y Mohseni, 2011;Morlino, 2009). Por otro lado, hay enfoques en los que la categoría de regímenes híbridos engloba a ciertos regímenes con adjetivos, ya sean democracias o autocracias (por ejemplo, Bogaards, 2009;Brownlee, 2009;Lührmann et al., 2018;Szmolka Vida, 2010;Wigell, 2008). Los regímenes con adjetivos son innovaciones conceptuales que buscan identificar configuraciones particulares de atributos entre los regímenes políticos. ...
... Esta subsección cierra con el modelo de Regímenes del Mundo, desarrollado por Lührmann et al. (2018). Este modelo ofrece un esquema de conceptualización y medición de conceptos como democracia electoral y autocracia electoral. ...
... En general, las distintas aportaciones en este campo aquí revisadas tienen un mejor desempeño en términos de diferenciación, validez y parsimonia, como se observa en Merkel (2004), Bogaards (2009) y Szmolka Vida (2010. En particular, las tipologías desarrolladas por Wigell (2008) o Regímenes del Mundo (Lührmann et al., 2018) ofrecen esquemas conceptuales que sintetizan las contribuciones más relevantes del enfoque de los regímenes con adjetivos. ...
Los procesos graduales de autocratización han provocado que algunos regímenes se deslicen hacia la zona gris entre la democracia y el autoritarismo. ¿Cómo determinar cuál es el tipo de régimen que prevalece en cada caso? ¿Se trata de “regímenes híbridos”? Usualmente, éstos son definidos como regímenes con atributos propios de las democracias y las autocracias. Sin embargo, existe mucha confusión en el sentido y alcance de ese término. El objetivo de este artículo es distinguir entre diferentes concepciones de los regímenes híbridos en función de su coherencia conceptual. El análisis se basa en los criterios de validez, diferenciación y parsimonia, propuestos por Collier y Levitsky (1997) para la formación de conceptos y muestra las diferencias existentes en la medida en que las concepciones de regímenes híbridos cumplen con esos criterios. Los estudios asociados a la perspectiva de los “regímenes con adjetivos” ofrecen herramientas conceptuales más sistemáticas. En contraste, los trabajos que definen a los regímenes híbridos como regímenes que no son ni democracias ni autoritarismos tienen limitaciones en el plano conceptual.
... Specifically, we divided the sample into two groups based on whether a country's Pre-treatment EDI exceeded 0.7, ensuring a balanced number of treated countries in each group. This threshold is relatively high, 11 given that the average EDI across countries in 2005 was 0.57, and existing coding schemes classify a country as democratic at an EDI of 0.5 (Lührmann et al. 2018). We adopted this higher threshold not only for empirical reasons but also in line with our theoretical framework, which emphasizes that stronger accountability mechanisms-beyond minimalist conceptions of democracy-are essential for constraining the government's ability to benefit from convictions. ...
This study investigates the political effects of corruption convictions involving former heads of government. Drawing on an original dataset of convictions and annual, nationally representative surveys covering over 130 countries from 2006 to 2019, we employ a difference-indifferences approach to analyze how these events shape government approval. Our findings indicate a notable contrast: in less democratic countries, convictions boost support for the government, whereas their effect is negligible in more democratic contexts. We reveal a key mechanism behind this divergence by showing how incumbent governments respond differently to the convictions. In less democratic settings, governments exploit corruption convictions by emphasizing the personal virtues of their leaders. Beyond identifying this critical condition that prompts political elites to adopt personalistic appeals, we also demonstrate how these appeals resonate with the public. These findings have implications for debates on the consequences of anti-corruption efforts and their relationship with populism.
... Hence, we include the GDP per Capita to control for domestic economic development (World Bank, 2019a). Furthermore, by including a democracy index, we operationalize the political development and openness to transparency tools like ILSAs (Lührmann et al., 2018). With the Gross Enrolment Rate of primary and secondary schools combined, we model the status and effectiveness of the domestic education system at large (Unesco Institute for Statistics, 2019). ...
Introduction
International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) are widely utilized to benchmark to evaluate the quality of education systems globally. Since 2000, the number of participating countries in these assessments has increased dramatically, revealing the dominance of a few education systems while exposing the deficiencies of many others. Especially for the latter group the question, as to why they participate in ILSAs, is puzzling. Existing literature attributes this participation to domestic factors or the influence of International Organizations. However, we argue that the global spread of ILSAs can also be explained by direct country-to-country dependencies through development aid.
Methods
This study takes an interdependency-inspired approach, focusing on how bilateral development aid networks influence ILSA participation. Using advanced network diffusion and hurdle models, we analyse data from a global set of countries over the period from 1990 to 2012. The models examine the role of development aid distribution in shaping ILSA participation, with particular attention to how participation in ILSAs affects the likelihood of attracting additional donors and aid.
Results
Our analysis reveals that the distribution of development aid has a significant impact on countries’ decisions to participate in ILSAs. Furthermore, we find that countries already involved in ILSAs are more likely to attract additional donors and aid within established donor-recipient dyads. These results demonstrate a clear connection between development aid distribution and the global spread of ILSAs.
Discussion
This study highlights the role of monetary incentives, facilitated by the distribution of development aid, in promoting participation in ILSAs. Our findings suggest that the rapid spread of ILSAs is not solely driven by domestic factors or international organizations but also by the interdependent relationships formed through aid distribution networks. These insights contribute to a broader understanding of the factors driving global educational assessments and provide implications for policy-making in education and development aid.
... The Middle East region, by contrast, is a democratic laggard across all dimensions of democracy. According to the most recent "regimes of the world" classification (Lührmann et al., 2018), only one country in the region, Israel, qualifies as an electoral democracy, with most being "closed autocracies. " ...
This article reviews Shadi Hamid’s book The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea . It interrogates three key assumptions behind the author’s call for abandoning a “stability first” strategy for a “democracy first” strategy in the Middle East. These include the claim that (1) liberalism and democracy are diverging, (2) Arab dictatorships are brittle, and (3) there is a stark tradeoff between prioritizing Arab-Israeli peace and Arab democracy.
... Die Klassifizierung erfolgt dabei nachLührmann et al. (2018). "Wahldemokratien" werden dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Regierung durch freie und faire Wahlen bestimmt wird. ...
... 10 See the appendix for a full discussion of the results of individual robustness checks. 11 To create a binary distinction between democracies and autocracies, we rely on the Regimes of the World variable from V-Dem (Lührmann et al. 2018;Coppedge et al. 2022b), which codes states as either closed autocracies, electoral autocracies, electoral democracies, or liberal democracies. We distinguish between autocracies (closed and electoral) and democracies (electoral and liberal). ...
... We also disaggregate member states' regime type further by estimating models in which the main independent variable is, respectively, the share of democratizing states, autocratizing states, stable democracies, and stable autocracies among an IO's membership (Table A6-A7; Figure A4-A5). We construct these variables using the Episodes of Regime Transformation dataset (Edgell et al. 2024), and capture democratizing and autocratizing states using the democratization and autocratization episode variables, whereas stable democracies are democracies that did not experience an autocratization episode in a particular year and stable autocracies are autocracies that did not experience a democratization episode in a particular 13 To create a binary distinction between democracies and autocracies, we rely on the Regimes of the World variable from V-Dem (Lührmann et al. 2018;Coppedge et al. 2022b), which codes states as either closed autocracies, electoral autocracies, electoral democracies, or liberal democracies. We distinguish between autocracies (closed and electoral) and democracies (electoral and liberal). ...
Extensive research expects systematic differences in the design of international organizations (IOs) based on the regime composition of their memberships. Yet, so far, empirical analyses have found limited support for this expectation. This article resolves this puzzle by providing a new understanding of how the regime composition of IOs shapes their institutional design. Theoretically, it argues that this relationship is moderated by a critical overlooked factor: the governance purpose of IOs, as expressed in the distinction between general-purpose and task-specific organizations. Empirically, it provides a comprehensive analysis of how changes in regime composition have affected institutional design in 40 IOs from 1950 to 2019. The findings show that the regime composition of IOs indeed is related to their institutional design, but only in general-purpose organizations, which present democracies and autocracies with more divergent design incentives than task-specific organizations. The article suggests that democracy, autocracy, and international cooperation are linked in more complex and contingent ways than grasped in previous research.
... The main sample used for these models consists of a panel of 153 countries with data spanning 22 years from 2000 to 2021. Nineteen countries that were ranked as closed autocracies in the Regimes of the World (RoW) data set (Coppedge et al., 2024;Lührmann et al., 2018) during half or more of the 22 years were excluded from the original sample consisting of 173 countries for which data was available, as some level of political competition is a prerequisite for the hypothesized mechanisms. ...
... In one set of models (Models I.a-VIII.a), democracy, as measured by the RoW (Coppedge et al., 2024;Lührmann et al., 2018), a four-item category variable, was added as a control. While the inclusion of democracy as a control leads to endogeneity bias (this is why it was excluded from the main models; see Data and methods section), this bias can be kept at a minimum using RoW, as it is less responsive to political corruption over the short run than continuous democracy indices. ...
In recent years, there has been an increased scholarly interest in citizen (or mass) polarization and its associated socioeconomic and political consequences. Although substantial evidence supports that citizen polarization affects political (or grand) corruption through a variety of mechanisms, research remains fragmented and contradictory about the precise nature of these mechanisms. This article posits that two broad and relatively distinct types of citizen polarization—affective and ideological polarization—yield differing effects on political corruption. It was hypothesized that (1) moderate levels of affective polarization have minimal effects, whereas higher levels increase political corruption; and that (2) moderate levels of ideological polarization decrease corruption, while excessive ideological polarization leads to increased political corruption. Both hypotheses were validated through panel regressions on a sample of 153 countries with data from 2000 to 2021. The article also investigates the moderating effect of regime type.
... Beyond what is presented in Table 1, some additional clarification is needed regarding the political regime and right-left margin variables. To define the political regime of the parent's country of birth, we relied on the classification by Lührmann et al. (2018) and the V-Dem's expert estimates for 2023 (Coppedge et al., 2024). Our final variable also considered the geopolitical area of the parent's country of birth. ...
While citizenship acquisition varies across the EU, children of immigrants are expected to comprise a growing share of the voting-age population in the coming years. Consequently, understanding the factors influencing their political integration has garnered increasing attention from researchers and policymakers. Existing studies highlight the complex and context-dependent interplay of structural, cultural, and policy-related factors that shape immigrant political engagement. Additionally, some scholars have noted that the standard model of youth political socialisation—where political learning is transmitted from parent to child—may be “disrupted” in immigrant families. Against this backdrop, this article investigates the critical role of family political discussions and parent–child political alignment in (re)producing ethnic inequalities in political engagement among late adolescents, using Lombardy (Italy) as a case study. The project MAYBE—Moving into Adulthood in uncertain times: Youth Beliefs, future Expectations, and life choices (University of Milan) collected survey data from 2,756 final-year high school students (aged 18–19) between February 2023 and March 2024, including 620 students with migrant backgrounds. The study applied a multilevel regression model—spanning 81 schools, 165 classes—to investigate individual and contextual factors, such as the classroom political climate and municipal electoral competitiveness. Migrant parents navigate the host country’s political environment with varying levels of familiarity, shaped by their connections to the political culture of their country of origin. Findings suggest that these dynamics create unique pathways for the political socialisation of their children, in which the influence of socioeconomic status and intergenerational social learning on political engagement differs significantly from the patterns observed among native-born youth.
... The political aspect is represented by the political regime variable (POL), scaled from 0 for autocracy to 9 for liberal democracy (Lührmann et al., 2018). Variables CO 2 C, GDPC, ENERGY, and POL are expressed in natural logarithmic form. ...
Among the most pressing environmental challenges, climate change is anticipated to pose the highest global threat in the coming decade. This research examines the impact of political economic development on per capita CO2 emissions in 29 countries with state religions, applying the frameworks of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH). Employing the Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PARDL) model, the study analyzes data from 1990 to 2022, incorporating both time series and cross-sectional information. The model’s robustness is verified by replacing CO2 emissions per capita with ecological footprint per person. Results indicate that the EKC hypothesis is not supported in most nations, particularly low-income countries still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. In contrast, the PHH hypothesis is confirmed over the long term, with foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows contributing to increase per capita CO2 emissions, especially in countries with lax environmental regulations. Energy consumption and industrial sector contributions significantly affect emissions, while renewable energy consistently reduces CO2 output. Furthermore, democratic political systems are associated with higher emissions, particularly in rapidly growing economies. The study suggests implementing faith-based and sustainability-oriented approaches, such as a faith-driven economy that incorporates spiritual values into green economic policies. Additionally, faith-based investing is recommended to encourage ethical and environmentally responsible business practices. These strategies aim to help countries with official religions strike a balance between economic growth and environmental conservation in the face of climate change.
... We shed light on these questions, investigating public opinion in the restoration pro-1. Poland's status feel from a liberal to an electoral democracy during PiS' time in goverment according to the Regimes of the World (RoW)-measure (Coppedge et al. 2024;Lührmann, Tannenberg, and Lindberg 2018). cess using the paradigmatic case of Poland. ...
... We see Poland as the ideal context for studying democratic restoration, because Poland had a high initial level of democracy and suffered substantial institutional damage during the backsliding period (e.g., fell from being categorized as a liberal to an electoral democracy, see Lührmann, Tannenberg, and Lindberg 2018). In fact, no liberal democracy has ever experienced as severe democratic backsliding as Poland before an election loss to the national incumbent-that is, before a pro-democratic election win (Haggard and Kaufman 2021). ...
... This is reflected in the fact that the United States did not lose its status as a liberal democracy, whereas Brazil has consistently been categorized as an electoral democracy. The capture of formal institutions such as the Polish state media and the constitutional court resulted in the country being reclassified from a liberal to an electoral democracy (see Coppedge et al. 2024;Lührmann, Tannenberg, and Lindberg 2018). ...
Abundant prior research has analyzed the mass public’s role in democratic backsliding. Comparatively little research has studied democratic restoration, the reconsolidation of democratic institutions following backsliding. We investigate this pressing issue using the paradigmatic case of Poland, where the pro-democratic alliance led by Donald Tusk won the parliamentary election in 2023 after eight years of democratic backsliding under the Law and Justice party. A central concern is whether such an opportunity to restore democracy fuels anti-democratic sentiment among vengeful winners and disappointed losers in a polarized society. Using original panel survey data, we show that the election result did not exacerbate deeper anti-democratic attitudes on either side. At the same time, elite-cue survey experiments reveal that pro-democratic elites may jeopardize the winners' benevolence by using an aggressive, confrontational strategy to restore democracy. The findings carry important implications for current and future endeavors to restore democracy in Poland and elsewhere.
