The Lay of the Land: Information Capacity and the Modern State
Brambor, Thomas LU ; Goenaga, Augustín LU ; Lindvall, Johannes LU
and Teorell, Jan
LU
(2020)
In Comparative Political Studies
53(2).
p.175-213
- Abstract
- This article presents new evidence on the efforts of states to collect and process information about themselves, their territories, and their populations. We compile data on five institutions and policies: the regular implementation of a reliable census, the regular release of statistical yearbooks, the introduction of civil and population registers, and the establishment of a government agency tasked with processing statistical information. Using item response theory methods, we generate an index of “information capacity” for 85 states from 1789 to the present. We then ask how political regime changes have influenced the development of information capacity over time. In contrast with the literature on democracy and fiscal capacity, we... (More)
- This article presents new evidence on the efforts of states to collect and process information about themselves, their territories, and their populations. We compile data on five institutions and policies: the regular implementation of a reliable census, the regular release of statistical yearbooks, the introduction of civil and population registers, and the establishment of a government agency tasked with processing statistical information. Using item response theory methods, we generate an index of “information capacity” for 85 states from 1789 to the present. We then ask how political regime changes have influenced the development of information capacity over time. In contrast with the literature on democracy and fiscal capacity, we find that suffrage expansions are associated with higher information capacity, but increases in the level of political competition are not. These findings demonstrate the value of our new measure, because they suggest that different elements of state capacity are shaped by different historical processes. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/421cf584-aeea-40db-82cc-5c44ec9fdada
- author
- Brambor, Thomas
LU
; Goenaga, Augustín
LU
; Lindvall, Johannes
LU
and Teorell, Jan
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-02-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Comparative Political Studies
- volume
- 53
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 39 pages
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85066819791
- ISSN
- 1552-3829
- DOI
- 10.1177/0010414019843432
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 421cf584-aeea-40db-82cc-5c44ec9fdada
- date added to LUP
- 2019-03-28 13:35:49
- date last changed
- 2022-04-25 21:58:20
@article{421cf584-aeea-40db-82cc-5c44ec9fdada,
abstract = {{This article presents new evidence on the efforts of states to collect and process information about themselves, their territories, and their populations. We compile data on five institutions and policies: the regular implementation of a reliable census, the regular release of statistical yearbooks, the introduction of civil and population registers, and the establishment of a government agency tasked with processing statistical information. Using item response theory methods, we generate an index of “information capacity” for 85 states from 1789 to the present. We then ask how political regime changes have influenced the development of information capacity over time. In contrast with the literature on democracy and fiscal capacity, we find that suffrage expansions are associated with higher information capacity, but increases in the level of political competition are not. These findings demonstrate the value of our new measure, because they suggest that different elements of state capacity are shaped by different historical processes.}},
author = {{Brambor, Thomas and Goenaga, Augustín and Lindvall, Johannes and Teorell, Jan}},
issn = {{1552-3829}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{02}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{175--213}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{Comparative Political Studies}},
title = {{The Lay of the Land: Information Capacity and the Modern State}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0010414019843432}},
doi = {{10.1177/0010414019843432}},
volume = {{53}},
year = {{2020}},
}