Regime Type

QoG code: wel_regtype

Meaning: Regime types measure the 4-fold combination of personal autonomy rights and political participation rights, resulting in four combinations.
Source: Welzel, Freedom Rising (2013: 257-258). Typology is available in annual measures for most countries of the world from 1981 to 2010.
Scaling: 1 "Pure Autocracy'': both personal autonomy rights and political participation rights below the scale midpoint (0.50); 2 "Inclusive Autocracy'': personal autonomy rights below the scale midpoint, political participation rights above the scale midpoint; 3 "Liberal Autocracy'': personal autonomy rights above the scale midpoint, political participation rights below; 4 "Minimal Democracy'': both personal autonomy rights and political participation rights above the scale midpoint.
Links: Data sources, rescaling procedures and replication data are meticulously documented in the Online Appendix to Welzel's (2013) Freedom Rising at www.cambridge.com/welzel (p. 72). Test statistics documenting this index's superior validity in comparison to alternative democracy measures are reported in Welzel (2013: 267-271).

Type of variable
Continuous
Last updated by source
2014-03-01

Find this variable in

Original dataset
Details of this variable in our compilation datasets
Dataset No. Countries
Standard time-series 192
OECD time-series 36