Constraint on government power is key for good governance, but has been hard to measure across countries. This article introduces new accountability indices—vertical (citizen), horizontal (state institutions), and diagonal (media/civil society)—using V-Dem data and Bayesian methods.
New Accountability Framework
We developed these indices by combining innovative statistical techniques with comprehensive datasets covering 1900–present, addressing the lack of reliable measures previously. Our goal was to capture distinct dimensions clearly.
Validating the Approach
These new tools demonstrate strong conceptual and empirical validity through content analysis, convergent validation, and construct checks against other indicators.
Why It Matters
Researchers now have unprecedented opportunities to explore how accountability shapes political outcomes globally. The methodology offers a template for building theoretically-grounded indices from large cross-national panels.
| Constraining Governments: New Indices of Vertical, Horizontal and Diagonal Accountability was authored by Anna Lührmann, Kyle L Marquardt and Valeriya Mechkova. It was published by Cambridge in APSR in 2020. |
