Democracy is a term often cited but sometimes misunderstood or misrepresented, especially by regimes claiming democratic principles while lacking democratic practices. Derived from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (power or rule), democracy ideally represents a system where citizens have the authority to participate in legislation and governance. However, the actual state of democracy varies widely across the globe.
To better understand the state of democracy in different countries, organizations have developed key indices that capture its complexity. One such dataset is The Global State of Democracy Indices (GSoD), which provides insights into democratic metrics from various nations. Using data science and visualization, we aim to analyze these indices and reveal patterns, trends, and anomalies in democratic levels worldwide. This project will focus on trends from 1975 to 2020, highlighting discrepancies where countries may claim high levels of democracy despite low index scores. Goals
- Visualize and analyze democracy levels across countries over time (1975-2020).
- Identify patterns and trends within democracy indices.
- Highlight countries where democracy levels contradict official claims.
The dataset used in this project is the 2021 version (v5.1) of the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) indices, published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) with data from the V-Dem Institute (Varieties of Democracy). Each country is scored on a scale from 0 to 1 across various aspects of democracy. Dataset Highlights:
- Time Period: 1975 to 2020
- Metrics: Multiple indices representing democratic attributes across nations
- Source: International IDEA publishes the Global State of Democracy dataset.
You can find the video presentation here.