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This study has two central research questions: Do democracy profiles affect policy performance? And what causes democracy profiles? Oliver Schlenkrich conceptualizes and measures different democracy profiles (e.g., libertarian-majoritarian or egalitarian-majoritarian democracies) based on trade-offs between the central democracy dimensions of political freedom, political equality, and political and legal control. In addition, the study conceptually and empirically develops a typology of political performance. Regarding the first research question, the empirical analyses of about 80 democracies from 1974 to 2017 indicate that there is not an overall better performing democracy profile. Thereby, the democracy profiles do not have an immediate effect, instead their effects require a longer period of time to manifest. With respect to the second research question, the empirical findings show that several structural and cultural factors are relevant (e.g., British heritage or a competitive culture). This work is mainly based on Bayesian statistics to cope with the complexity of the data and models.
About the authorOliver Schlenkrich works currently on the DFG research project 'Causes of Transformation and Democracy Profiles: Empirical Findings of the Democracy Matrix' located at the Institute of Political Science and Sociology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany. His research interests concern democracy, political culture, political participation, quality of statehood, and quantitative methods.
List of contents
Introduction.- Identifying Profiles of Democracy.- Analyzing the Varieties of Democracy Dataset.- AGIL Typology of Political Performance.- Conceptualizing and Measuring Goal-oriented Performance.- Aggregating Goal-oriented Performance.- Describing Goal-oriented Performance.- Explaining Goal-oriented Performance.- Explaining Policy Regime Performance.- Conclusion.- References.
About the author
Oliver Schlenkrich works currently on the DFG research project 'Causes of Transformation and Democracy Profiles: Empirical Findings of the Democracy Matrix' located at the Institute of Political Science and Sociology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany. His research interests concern democracy, political culture, political participation, quality of statehood, and quantitative methods.
Report
"Origin and Performance of Democracy Profiles" is a thought-provoking and important contribution to the study of democracy and policy performance. Schlenkrich's ambitious research innovates conceptually and empirically, enhancing our knowledge about the relationship between democracy profiles and policy outcomes and providing a nuanced understanding of the complex factors that shape democratic systems." (Sebastian Hellmeier, Zeitschrift für Vergleichende Politikwissenschaft, Vol. 17 (1), 2023)
