The Bertelsmann Transformation Index

The Bertelsmann Transformation Index of the Bertelsmann Stiftung (2022 edition). Data and coding description available at https://www.bti-project.org/en/index/political-transformation.html

bti

Format

An object of class tbl_df (inherits from tbl, data.frame) with 1233 rows and 88 columns.

Source

Bertelsmann Stiftung. Transformation Index of the Bertelsmann Stiftung 2022. Tech. rep. Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2022. Available at https://www.bti-project.org/en/index/political-transformation.html

Description

The BTI is calculated at Biennial Intervals for approximately 137 countries since 2006.

bti_country

The original country name in the dataset.

year

Calendar year. This is two years earlier than the report date. For example, the codebook indicates that the BTI report for 2020 assesses the situation as of January 2019, so I've assigned it a calendar year of 2018.

bti_region

Region.

Ranking_Status_Index

Country rank in the status index, which "ranks the countries according to the state of their democracy and market economy".

S_Status_Index

Status index, which combines the democracy and economy index.

Ranking_Democracy_Status

Ranking in democracy status index.

SI_Democracy_Status

Democracy status index.

Q1_Stateness (Q1.1-1.4)

Scores on questions on stateness (1-10), from monopoly on the use of force to basic administration. The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "there is clarity about the nation's existence as a state with adequately established and differentiated power structures." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q2_Political_Participation (Q2.1-2.4)

Scores on questions on political participation (1-10), from free and fair elections to freedom of expression. The BTI codebook says this concept indicates whether "The populace decides who rules, and it has other political freedoms". See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q3_Rule_of_Law (Q3.1-3.4)

Scores on questions on rule of law (1-10), from checks and balances to civil rights. The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "state powers check and balance one another and ensure civil rights." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q4_Stability_of_Democratic_Institutions (Q4.1-4.2)

Scores on questions on stability of democratic institutions (1-10), from performance of democratic institutions to commitment to democratic institutions. The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "democratic institutions are capable of performing, and they are adequately accepted." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q5_Political_and_Social_Integration (Q5.1-5.4)

Scores on questions on political and social integration (1-10), from rootedness of party system to social capital. The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "Stable patterns of representation exist for mediating between society and the state; there is also a consolidated civic culture." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Ranking_Economy_Status

Ranking in economy status index.

SII_Economy_Status

Economy status index.

Q6_Level_of_Socioeconomic_Development (Q6.1)

Score on question on the level of socioeconomic development (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "In principle, the country's level of development permits adequate freedom of choice for all citizens." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q7_Organization_of_the_Market_and_Competition (Q7.1-7.4)

Scores on questions on market organization and competition (1-10), from market organization to banking system. The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "There are clear rules for stable, market-based competition." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q8_Monetary_and_Fiscal_Stability (Q8.1-8.2)

Scores on questions on monetary and fiscal stability (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "There are institutional and political precautions to achieve monetary and fiscal stability." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q9_Private_Property (Q9.1-9.2)

Scores on questions on private property and property rights (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "There are adequate conditions to support a functional private sector." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q10_Welfare_Regime (Q10.1-10.2)

Scores on questions on welfare policy and safety nets (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "There are viable arrangements to compensate for social risks." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q11_Economic_Performance (Q11.1)

Score on question on economic performance (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "The economy's performance points to solid development." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q12_Sustainability (Q12.1-12.2)

Scores on questions on sustainability, from environmental policy to R&D policy (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "Economic growth is balanced, environmentally sustainable and future-oriented." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Ranking_Governance_Index

Ranking in governance status index.

G_Governance_Index

Governance status index.

Q13_Level_of_Difficulty (Q13.1-13.5)

Scores on questions on level of difficulty in governance (1-10), plus some rescaled measures of objective difficulty (education, stateness, GNI per capita). See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q14_Steering_Capability (Q14.1-14.3)

Scores on questions on the government's steering capability, from prioritization to policy learning (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "The government manages reforms effectively and can achieve its policy priorities." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q15_Resource_Efficiency (Q15.1-15.3)

Scores on questions on the government's efficiency, from efficient use of assets to anti-corruption capability (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "The government makes optimum use of available resources." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q16_Consensus-Building (Q16.1-16.6)

Scores on questions on the government's ability to build consensus, from consensus on goals to civil society participation to reconciliation (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "The political leadership establishes a broad consensus on reform with other actors in society without sacrificing its reform goals." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Q17_Consensus-Building (Q17.1-17.3)

Scores on questions on the government's international cooperation, from effective use of support to credibility to regional cooperation (1-10). The BTI codebook says that this concept measures whether "The political leadership is willing and able to cooperate with external supporters and organizations." See codebook at https://www.bti-project.org/content/en/downloads/codebooks/BTI_2020_Codebook.pdf for details.

Standard descriptive variables (generated by this package)

extended_country_name

The name of the country in the Gleditsch-Ward system of states, or the official name of the entity (for non-sovereign entities and states not in the Gleditsch and Ward system of states) or else a common name for disputed cases that do not have an official name (e.g., Western Sahara, Hyderabad). The Gleditsch and Ward scheme sometimes indicates the common name of the country and (in parentheses) the name of an earlier incarnation of the state: thus, they have Germany (Prussia), Russia (Soviet Union), Madagascar (Malagasy), etc. For details, see Gleditsch, Kristian S. & Michael D. Ward. 1999. "Interstate System Membership: A Revised List of the Independent States since 1816." International Interactions 25: 393-413. The list can be found at http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~ksg/statelist.html.

GWn

Gleditsch and Ward's numeric country code, from the Gleditsch and Ward list of independent states.

cown

The Correlates of War numeric country code, 2016 version. This differs from Gleditsch and Ward's numeric country code in a few cases. See http://www.correlatesofwar.org/data-sets/state-system-membership for the full list.

in_GW_system

Whether the state is "in system" (that is, is independent and sovereign), according to Gleditsch and Ward, for this particular date. Matches at the end of the year; so, for example South Vietnam 1975 is FALSE because, according to Gleditsch and Ward, the country ended on April 1975 (being absorbed by North Vietnam). It is also TRUE for dates beyond 2012 for countries that did not end by then, depsite the fact that the Gleditsch and Ward list has not been updated since.

See also

Other democracy: LIED, PIPE, REIGN, anckar, anrr, arat_pmm, blm, bmr, bnr, bollen_pmm, doorenspleet, download_fh_electoral(), download_fh_full(), download_fh(), download_wgi_voice_and_accountability(), eiu, extended_uds, fh_pmm, gwf_all, hadenius_pmm, kailitz, magaloni, mainwaring, munck_pmm, pacl_update, pacl, peps, pitf, polityIV, polity_pmm, polyarchy_dimensions, polyarchy, prc_gasiorowski, svmdi, svolik_regime, uds_2014, ulfelder, utip, vanhanen, vdem_simple, wahman_teorell_hadenius

Other continuous democracy indexes: arat_pmm, bollen_pmm, download_wgi_voice_and_accountability(), eiu, hadenius_pmm, munck_pmm, svmdi, vanhanen, vdem_simple