Democracy Matrix
Democracy Matrix
DFG research project led by Prof. Dr. Hans-Joachim Lauth: The democracy matrix is a tool for measuring democratic quality. Drawing on data from the Varieties-of-Democracy-Project (V-Dem), the democracy matrix offers information for more than 170 countries in the period between 1900 and 2017. In order to be able to determine the democratic quality of a state, altogether 15 matrix fields are studied in the democracy matrix. On the one hand, the extent of the three key democracy dimensions of political freedom, political equality, and political and legal control are surveyed. On the other hand, the matrix depicts the functioning of five institutions: procedures of decision, regulation of the intermediate sphere, public communication, guarantee of rights, and rules settlement and implementation. This disaggregated and differentiated measurement makes it possible to obverse transformation processes and to identify quality as well as democracy profiles.
Research Team: |  |
The Dataset and the Website of the Democracy Matrix are now available!
We are pleased that the dataset of the Democracy Matrix is now publicly available! Many thanks to the V-Dem team for their dataset, on which the Democracy Matrix is based.
The website gives you information about the conception, measurement and aggregation of the Democracy Matrix. You have the opportunity to conduct your own investigations with the help of the democracy matrix, by using the wide variety of offerings of our online analysis.
Visit the website of the Democracy Matrix
First DFG Research Project: “The Democracy Matrix as an Alternative to the Democracy Indices of Freedom House and Polity: Implementation of the Varieties-of-Democracy-Data by Using the 15-Field-Matrix of Democracy“ (April 2016 – April 2018)
DFG Follow-Up Project: “Causes of Quality and Democracy Profiles: Empirical Findings of the Democracy Matrix“ (April 2018 - April 2021)
