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Assessing Progress Toward Democracy and Good Governance Summary of a Workshop (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Issues of Measurement
Pages 5-9

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From page 5...
... From these indicators, they derived a Guttman scale ranging from full polyarchy to nonpolyarchic countnes, emphasizing the dimension of public contestation.i Coppedge recommended that a similar procedure be used to measure governance. Drawing on a wide variety of source information, it should be possible to rate countries on tA Guttman scale is a rank order or an ordinal level of measurement that is based on the assumption that all of the items that are included in the scale form a unidimensional structure.
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From page 6...
... In one project, he codes political documents in terms of saliency or the frequency with which alternative policies are mentioned. The codes are then used to test competing theories of democratic functioning -- for example, a confrontational versus a saliency versus a party mandate theory -- as well as theories of coalition formation that emphasize the importance of policy closeness in decisions to align.
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From page 7...
... Reliability, Validity, and Analysis A discussion of data quality issues was initiated by Michael Stohl. An overview of the basics of social science measurement proceeded in five steps: delineating the concept, specifying the relevant dimensions into disaggregated components, defining and calibrating the dimensions in operational terms, measuring the dimensions with available sources of information, and, if appropriate, reaggregating the dimensions into a composite index.
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From page 8...
... Qualitative analysis of a few cases allows for a penetrating and broad picture of the particular situation under study. One or the other approach may be better suited to particular research purposes, such as the difference between gaining theoretical knowledge or giving practical advice.
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From page 9...
... Lopez illustrated the utility of these indicators by examining four different cases of rights abuses: Chile in three distinct time periods under the Pinochet regime (1973-1979, 1980-1984, and 1985-1987~; E1 Salvador and Nicaragua since 19791; and Chicago, Illinois, where various cases of torture and brutal treatment in city jails has led to investigation of cases by Amnesty International in London. During the discussion, Lopez noted that among the advantages of using such a multiple system of rights violations, two are most important.
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Key Terms

  • rights violations
  • lopez proposed
  • raymond gastil
  • political freedoms
  • guttman scale

  • measure governance
  • george lopez
  • michael stohl
  • lopez noted
  • measurement scales

  • political analysis
  • giving practical
  • lopez outlined
  • critically affects
  • weighted components

  • uncritical acceptance
  • particular regions
  • refined measures
  • regression analysis
  • empirically grounded

  • theoretical knowledge
  • honest elections
  • broad participation
  • eastern economic
  • including compilations

  • proposed examining
  • unidimensional structure
  • ensure attaining
  • confrontational versus
  • abuses associated


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