Global Consensus Database v1: Complete Database for 230 Countries

Overview

Supporting data repository for "The Implementation Responsibility Theorem: Mathematical Foundations for Democratic Institutional Design" submitted to Journal of Public Policy (Cambridge University Press).

Key Findings

Universal delegation penalty: α = 0.109 ± 0.017

Coverage: 547 communities across 230 countries

Robustness: Consistent across multiple survey methodologies and regional contexts

Data Sources and Time Coverage

American National Election Studies (ANES) (2020, 2022): US national election surveys

Afrobarometer (Round 9, 2021-2023): African opinion surveys

Arab Barometer (Wave 8, 2021-2022): MENA region surveys

Asian Barometer (recent wave, ~2018-2020): East and South Asian opinion surveys

Comparative Election Studies (CES) (2021, 2023): European election studies

Canada National Data (2021): Canadian election/opinion data

USA National Data (derived from ANES 2020-2022): US-specific consensus measures

Overall Coverage: 2018-2023, spanning established cross-national survey programs

Repository Structure

COMPLETE_Consensus_Database_230_Countries/
├── 01_Raw_Extracted_Data/ # Original survey extracts by source
│ ├── American_Election_Studies/ # ANES data files
│ ├── Afrobarometer/ # Afrobarometer R9 data
│ ├── Arab_Barometer/ # Arab Barometer Wave 8
│ ├── Asian_Barometer/ # Asian Barometer data
│ └── European_CES/ # European/CES data
├── 02_Processed_Data/ # Cleaned and standardized datasets
├── 03_Analysis_Ready/ # Final analytical datasets
├── 04_Results/ # Output files and summary statistics
├── Variable_Mappings/ # Documentation of variable transformations
└── Documentation/ # Complete documentation
├── TIME_SCOPE_ANALYSIS.csv # Data source verification
├── ZENODO_METADATA.md # Upload metadata
└── README.md # This file

Key Files

Primary Database

Complete_Consensus_Law_Database_230_Countries_COMPLETE.csv - Final 230-country database

Analysis Files

USA_Individual_Consensus_Scores_2024_FINAL.csv - US individual-level measures

Canada_Individual_Consensus_Scores_2021.csv - Canadian individual-level measures

MENA_Individual_Consensus_Scores_2023.csv - MENA region measures

Documentation

Consensus_Law_Variable_Mapping.csv - Variable definitions and transformations

TIME_SCOPE_ANALYSIS.csv - Data source time coverage verification

Database Overview

Countries: 230

Communities: 547 analyzed communities

Key Finding: Universal delegation penalty α = 0.109 ± 0.017

Sources: Multiple established cross-national survey programs

Coverage: Global with comprehensive regional representation

Time Period: 2018-2023 (established survey programs)

Variable Summary

Variable
Type
Description

country
Character
Standardized country name

region
Character
Geographic region

consensus_score
Numeric
Primary consensus measure

implementation_responsibility
Numeric
Implementation responsibility alignment

delegation_penalty
Numeric
Calculated delegation penalty (α)

data_source
Character
Original survey source