Measuring Effective Democracy The Human Empowerment Approach

Various categorizations have emerged to describe the growing number of ineffective democracies in the hybrid zone between blatant autocracy and fully effective democracy. Despite differences in terminology, scholars agree that state failure in the enforcement of rule of law is the key factor separating effective from ineffective democracies. Applying this distinction, categorical approaches prevail that dichotomize effective against ineffective democracies. By contrast, only one attempt has been made with gradual data on state deficiencies to produce a continuous index of “effective democracy.” This index could be a useful tool for democracy assessment at a time when the phenomenon of ineffective democracy is gaining significance. However, the conceptual rationales that inform the index of effective democracy have not been outlined in satisfactory detail. Nor has a systematic validity test been conducted to demonstrate the performance of the index in comparison to other established democracy indices. This article fills this gap by explicating the conceptual basis of the index of effective democracy and demonstrating the index’s empirical qualities.