Polity5: Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions政体特征与转型数据集 (Polity5)

The Polity5 dataset is one of the most widely used measures of political regime characteristics in comparative politics and international relations. It covers all independent countries with a population greater than 500,000 from 1800 to 2020, coding the institutional characteristics of governing authority along a spectrum from fully institutionalized autocracies (-10) to fully institutionalized democracies (+10).

The dataset provides several key measures: polity2 (the main composite score, which interpolates over transition periods), democracy score (democ, 0–10), autocracy score (autoc, 0–10), and regime durability (durable, years since last regime change). The original polity score equals democ − autoc and ranges from −10 to +10.

Polity is a foundational dataset in the study of democratization, democratic backsliding, and the relationship between regime type and outcomes such as conflict, economic growth, and international cooperation.

Polity5 是比较政治学和国际关系领域使用最广泛的政体特征数据集之一。它涵盖 1800 至 2020 年间所有人口超过 50 万的独立国家，对执政权威的制度特征进行编码，范围从完全制度化的威权政体 (-10) 到完全制度化的民主政体 (+10)。数据集提供多个关键指标：polity2（主要综合得分，对过渡期进行了插值处理）、民主得分 (democ, 0–10)、威权得分 (autoc, 0–10)，以及政体持久性 (durable，自上次政体变革以来的年数)。Polity 是研究民主化、民主倒退以及政体类型与冲突、经济增长和国际合作等结果之间关系的基础数据集。