Replication Data for: An Events-Based Approach to Understanding Democratic Erosion

Abstract for paper for which data is used: In this paper we introduce and demonstrate the utility of a new event dataset on democratic erosion around the world. Through case studies of Turkey and Brazil, we show that our Democratic Erosion Event Dataset (DEED) can help resolve debates about the extent to which democracy is backsliding based on prominent cross-national indicators, focusing in particular on the V-Dem and Little and Meng (L&M) indices. V-Dem suggests that democracies are deteriorating worldwide; L&M argue that this may be an artifact of subjectivity and coder bias, and that more “objective” indicators reveal little to no global democratic backsliding in recent years. Using DEED, we show that, at least in these cases, objective indices may underestimate the extent of democratic erosion while subjective indices may overestimate it. Our analyses illustrate the ways that DEED can complement existing indices by illuminating the nature and dynamics of democratic erosion as it actually occurs on the ground.

本数据集所依托的论文摘要：本论文介绍并展示了一套全新的全球民主退坡事件数据集（Democratic Erosion Event Dataset，DEED）的应用效用。通过土耳其与巴西的案例研究，我们证实，该DEED数据集可助力解决围绕主流跨国民主指标所引发的民主退坡程度相关学术争议，研究重点聚焦于两大核心指标：多样性民主指数（Varieties of Democracy，V-Dem）以及利特尔与孟（Little and Meng，L&M）指数。V-Dem的研究结论显示，全球范围内的民主制度正持续衰退；而L&M则提出，这一结论可能源于指标的主观性与编码者偏倚，更具‘客观性’的指标表明，近年来全球几乎未出现或仅存在极轻微的民主退坡现象。借助DEED数据集，我们的分析证实，至少在上述两个案例中，客观性指标可能低估了民主退坡的实际程度，而主观性指标则可能高估了这一程度。本研究进一步阐明，DEED可通过揭示实地发生的民主退坡的本质与动态过程，对现有各类民主指标形成有效补充。