Measuring Democracy
• How can democracy be measured?
Democracy is a complex concept that is difficult to measure and there are many dimensions that fall under what is thought of as democratic freedom. There is a minimalist definition that focuses on whether or not people have the right to vote. However, in my opinion, democracy seems more like it should be rated on a continuum that looks at democracy from a broader perspective.
• Does it make sense to distinguish degrees of democracy when comparing democratic systems?
I believe it does. A democracy that only allows citizens to elect represented leaders is far different from one that allows citizens to participate in the decision making process. There are many relevant distinctions that can be made in countries that are considered democracies and democracy can be considered a multi-dimensional process.
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of a minimalist concept of democracy?
The obvious advantage is that it simplifies the concept and makes its application easier. If a country simply allows for the election of leaders then it is a democracy...
However, it does not consider other factors associated with democracy such as a free press or free speech. Thus the minimalist model is relatively limited and this is definitely a disadvantage.
• Are some dimensions of democracy more important than others?
I believe some dimensions are more important than others and I think this is fairly well illustrated by the different democratic models suggested in the text. For example, the Freedom House model is broad and comprehensive and includes everything from rights of minorities to measurements of transparency. The Przeworski et al. model by contrast focuses on simply elections. Therefore elections could be considered the most important dimension and definitely a prerequisite while some of the other dimensions are not quite as critical to deciding if a country is democratic or not.
• Generally speaking, political scientists prefer more precision in measurement to less. But, how can too much precision be a bad thing when it comes to measurement? What does this tell you about the different kinds of measurements (scales and indexes) one might be able to use in…
