The new dataset of the global data collection project ‘Varieties of Democracy’ (V-Dem) is out and can be downloaded free of charge here (SPSS, STATA, CSV, R): https://www.v-dem.net/en/data/data-version-9/.
The V-Dem data is used by scholars, journalists and policy makers around the world in order to understand current and past developments of and challenges to democracy in a wide variety of countries and regions. The new dataset covers 202 countries and a period of over 200 years (1789-2018). It includes new indices (now in total more than 450) and indicators (in total 86) measuring e.g. digital society, legitimation and exclusion.
Having been involved in V-Dem as the country coordinator for Luxembourg since 2016, I am glad to contribute to this immensely rich data collection project, and to add a small but nonetheless interesting case to the dataset. This year’s dataset shows a continuing global trend of democratic decline, making research such as that conducted by the V-Dem team and with the V-Dem data ever more vital in order to raise awareness and outline possibilities of change. Hence: use the data, and spread the word!