What is Democracy and How It Can Be Measured?

Chvorostov A.V.,

Head, Center for Comparative Eurasia Studies and Surveys (CEASS-Center), chvorostov@gmail.com

elibrary_id: 30235113 | ORCID: 0000-0001-9720-316X | RESEARCHER_ID: C-4898-2017

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2020.03.12

Rubric: Reflecting on Matters in Print

For citation:

Chvorostov A.V. What is Democracy and How It Can Be Measured? – Polis. Political Studies. 2020. No. 3. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2020.03.12

Abstract

This review is dedicated to an analysis of the contemporary political science literature that combines theoretical conceptualizing and an empirical approach to the analysis of modern societies. The focus of its attention is the review of the book “Global Quality of Democracy as Innovation Enabler: Measuring Democracy for Success” by David Campbell, published in 2019 by Palgrave Macmillan. The author summarizes Campbell’s general conceptual approach to understanding democracy as a consistently self-organizing and multi-level system, and gives his interpretation of the qualitative levels of democracy. Main attention is paid to consideration of the model of empirical analysis developed by the author of the key parameters of the development and functioning of modern societies in the framework of the global comparative analysis of 160 countries. Some analysis results are also presented in relation to certain regions and countries of the world (OECD, EU, BRIC, etc.). The article ends with a section containing some criticisms and comments by the reviewer regarding the terminology used and the degree of validity of the proposed method in historical perspective.

Keywords

democracy and democratization, measuring the qualities of democracy, comparative crosscountry and regional analysis, innovations, social progress.

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References

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Campbell D.F.J. 2019. Global Quality of Democracy as Innovation Enabler: Measuring Democracy for Success. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72529-1

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Content No. 3, 2020