Conceptual and Measurement Issues in Assessing Democratic Backsliding

• Published in: PS, political science & politics Vol. 57; no. 2; pp. 162 - 177
• Main Authors: Knutsen, Carl Henrik, Marquardt, Kyle L., Seim, Brigitte, Coppedge, Michael, Edgell, Amanda B., Medzihorsky, Juraj, Pemstein, Daniel, Teorell, Jan, Gerring, John, Lindberg, Staffan I.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, USA Cambridge University Press 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Bias; Coding; Comment and Controversy; Comment and Controversy: Special Issue on Democratic Backsliding; Construction (Process); Debates; Democracy; Elections; Error of Measurement; Evidence; Freedom; Measurement techniques; Measures; Political Science; Political systems; Retrenchment; Statsvetenskap; Trends

During the past decade, analyses drawing on several democracy measures have shown a global trend of democratic retrenchment. While these democracy measures use radically different methodologies, most partially or fully rely on subjective judgments to produce estimates of the level of democracy withi...