Conceptualizing and measuring democracy
Abstract
Research on democracy frequently depends on indices that can be understood as representing
measures of democracy. Because democracy is an abstract, contested, and value-laden concept, as are
many concepts in the social sciences, any project that seeks to provide its measure must face a number
of challenges. This chapter explores the extent to which the Varieties of Democracy Project (V-Dem) is
able to meet those challenges through the use of several key conceptual tools from the research on
measurement in philosophy of science.