Gradations of Democracy? Empirical Tests of Alternative Conceptualizations

[11][12], is surprising.An insistence on dichotomous measures appears to neglect the advances in data collection and analysis that would allow for the more precise measurement of gradations (Bollen and Jackman 1989, 616-619).Also, their position seems insensitive to the incremental, and sometimes partial, process that characterizes many democratic transitions.Thus, dichotomous measures appear both methodologically regressive and lacking in face validity.This commitment to dichotomies in light of what seem like clear disadvantages has widened an important division among scholars about the conceptualization of democracy.Przeworski et al:s argument, which is representative of the dichotomous view, rests on two logically independent claims-one about validity and one about reliability.Their validity claim is