Criteria to Classify Regimes

Kendall Mead, Sophie Wechselblatt, Thomas Marris-Craddock, Chis Pope, Maddy Robinson, Lucy Fitzgerald, Joshua Hughes
Tutorial: Ivan, Tuesday 3:10pm

3 Questions

• Marked out of 5 points for each question 
• Total of 15 points on a scale to determine how democratic a state is
• 5 sets of criteria for each question (yes or no answer to total points for each question out of 5)

1) Elections 

In answering this question the primary elements that we are measuring are: 

• Is there transparency in Government (are the elections honest?) 

• Is there corruption present (are the elections fair?) 
• Accessibility of elections for all groups in society (can all groups have access to vote?) 
• Representation among leaders elected (Is there varied representation of groups displayed by leaders elected?) 
• Is it competitive with multiple parties?

2) Is there a strong set of Civil liberties that apply to all citizens?

In answering this question the primary elements that we are measuring are:

- Do citizens have the capacity of personal autonomy? 

- Is there freedom of the media? (e.g access to electoral information)

- Is there freedom of expression and belief? 

- Is there freedom of association?

- Are there a strong set of human rights (as defined by the UN in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)? 

3) Rule of Law - is it applied equally to everyone? Corruption index?

Rule of law is the dominance of law and legal institutions in a system of governance. In ensures, everyone is accountable to the laws including the state itself. In answering this question the primary elements we are measuring are:

• Is there a strong constitution 
• Are there laws including the protection of minorities and other vulnerable groups 
• Is there an independent judiciary 
• Is there proportionality 
• Is there an open government/governing being made public