Chapter 5 Democracy and Dictatorship

5.1 Conceptualization

Conceptualization consists of two parts: theoretical definition and operational definition. Operational definition is the work to make a theoretical concept measurable concept. In the process of operational definition, the level of abstract decreases, but the level of measurability increases. Theoretical perspectives and the empirical world should be connected.

5.2 Measurement levels

• Numeric

  • Discrete: numeric without decimals (e.g., count, number of people)

  • Continous: numeric with decimals (e.g., GDP, height, weight, temperature)

    • Interval: numeric with decimals with intervals and without absolute zero.

      • Suppose three students with heights of 5, 5.5, and 6 feet.

      • The difference between 5 and 5.5 feet is identical to the difference between 5.5 and 6.

      • However, it has not absolute zero. A zero degree of temperature does not mean there is no temperature.

    • Ratio: numeric with decimals with intervals and absolute zero.

      • For example, weight is zero means, NO weight.

• Categorical

  • Nominal (regular categorical): mutually exclusive and exhaustive (e.g., religion)

  • Ordinal: categories with ranks (e.g., letter grades)

5.3 Conceptualization and Operationalization

When we compare democracy and non-democracy (or dictatorship/autocracy/authoritarian regime), how can we know which country is democracy or not? We need to conceptualize what democracy is. However, it is challenging to define democracy in a single way. So, there are different views on defining democracy.

5.4 Evaluation of measurements

Validity refers to the extent to which our measures correspond to the concepts that they are intended to reflect.

Reliability refers to the extent to which the measurement process repeatedly and consistently produces the same score for a given case.

Replicability refers to the ability of third-party scholars to reproduce the process through which a measure is created.

5.5 Different views on democracy

How to define democracy?

• Substantive View: Classify political regimes in terms of the outcomes that they produce.

• Procedural or Minimalist View: Classify political regimes in terms of their institutions or procedures.

• Continuous view: We can put all the regimes on the same continuum.

  • We can say, “More democratic” or “Less democratic.”

• Discrete view: We can classify political regimes with distinct features.

  • For example, we can classify political regimes into “Presidential democracy,” “Parliamentary democracy,” or “Military dictatorship,” “Civilian dictatorship,” as Cheibub, Gandhi, and Vreeland (2010) show.

5.6 Munck and Verkuilen (2002)

Munck and Verkuilen (2002) compare nine datasets on democracy and assesses challenges related to conceptualization, measurement, and aggregation.

5.7 Cheibub et al. (2010)

Cheibub, Gandhi, and Vreeland (2010) use the minimalist criteria outlined by Alvarez et al. 1996 to distinguish democracies from autocracies and differentiates between types of democracy (parliamentary, presidential, or mixed) and between types of autocracy based on the leader (civilian, military, or monarchy), covering 199 countries between 1946 and 2008.

5.8 Munck (2016)

Munck (2016) critically reviews existing conceptualizations of the “quality” of democracy. Proposes broadening the concept to address government decision making and the social environment of politics.

5.9 Concepts you should know

• Concept

• Contestation

• Inclusion

• Minimalist (procedural) view of democracy

• Operationalization

• Polyarchy

• Regime

• Reliability

• Replicability

• Substantive view of democracy

• Validity