{{Short description|Binary measure of democracy and dictatorship}}
{{for|overview of democracy indices | Democracy indices}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
[[File:DD classification 2008 dataset Cheibub visualized hanteng en.png|463x463px|right|thumb|Democracies and dictatorships in 2008{{R|Cheibub2010}}]]
[[File:DD classification 1988 dataset Cheibub visualized hanteng en.png|463x463px|right|thumb|Democracies and dictatorships in 1988{{R|Cheibub2010}}]]

'''Democracy-Dictatorship''' ('''DD'''),{{R|Cheibub2010}} '''index of democracy and dictatorship''',<ref name= "GugiuCentellas 2013"/> or simply the '''DD index''',<ref name="Keech2013"/> or the '''DD datasets''', was the binary measure of [[democracy]] and [[dictatorship]]  whose publication stopped in 2008. Originally proposed by [[Adam Przeworski]], and further developed and maintained by José Antonio Cheibub, Jennifer Gandhi, and James Raymond Vreeland.<ref name= "Haggard&Kaufman2013"/>

Based on the regime binary classification idea proposed by Mike Alvarez in 1996,{{R|Alvarez1996}} and the Democracy and Development (or DD measure, ACLP dataset) proposed by Przeworski, Cheibub, Gandhi, and Vreeland developed a six-fold regime classification scheme, resulting what the authors called as the DD datasets.{{R|Cheibub2010|page1=68|quote1=The regime classification that appeared in Alvarez served as the basis for the work in Przeworski  and has been variously referred to as the ACLP, the Przeworski, the Democracy and Development, or DD measure. Here we will use the latter, to denote the fact that it classifies political regimes as democracies or dictatorships. We will also refer to the dataset that accompanies this paper as the DD dataset.}} The DD dataset covers the annual data points of 199 countries from 1946 (or date of independence) to 2008.{{R|Cheibub2010|page1=68|quote1=covering 199 countries from January 1, 1946 (or date of independence) to December 31, 2008}}

==Six-fold regime classification scheme and its rules==
The DD index first classifies the regimes into two types: democracies and dictatorships. For democracies, it categorizes them into three types: [[Parliamentary democracy|parliamentary]], [[Semi-presidential republic|semi-presidential]] and [[presidential system|presidential democracies]]. For dictatorships, [[Absolute monarchy|monarchic]], [[Military dictatorship|military]] and [[civilian dictatorship]].{{R|Cheibub2010}}
"
Based on a "minimalist" theory of democracy, the index relies on rules regarding the existence of competitive elections.{{R|Cheibub2010}}<ref name="Keech2013"/> Resorting to democratic concepts by [[Karl Popper]] and [[Joseph Schumpeter]], Przeworski defended the minimalist approach, citing Popper that "the only system in which citizens can get rid of governments without bloodshed."{{R| Przeworski 2003 }}

=== Four rules ===
For a regime to be considered as a democracy by the DD scheme, it must meet the requirement of four rules below:{{R|Cheibub2010|page1=69|quote1=A regime is classified as a democracy if it meets the requirements stipulated in all of the following four rules:1. The chief executive must be chosen by popular election or by a body that was itself popularly elected. 2. The legislature must be popularly elected. 3. There must be more than one party competing in the elections. 4. [[Alternation of power]] under electoral rules identical to the ones that brought the incumbent to the office must have taken place.}}<ref name="Keech2013" />
{{blockquote|
#The chief executive must be chosen by popular election or by a body that was itself popularly elected. 
#The legislature must be popularly elected. 
#There must be more than one party competing in the elections. 
#An alternation in power under electoral rules identical to the ones that brought the incumbent to office must have taken place.
}}

Some regimes may meet the first three rules, but lack an alternation in power in its historical past; these regimes are classified as dictatorships because of cases where the incumbent only allows elections as long as they keep winning, and would refuse to step down if they lost. However, since they might also give up power willingly, the regime is marked with a [[Type II error|type II]] value to signal potential classification errors where a democratic regime may be falsely classified as dictatorship.{{R|Cheibub2010|page1=70|quote=But we also identify these cases through a variable called “Type II,” an indicator variable coded one if the dictatorship represents a possible Type II error—i.e., a false negative}}. This does not indicate cases of semi-democracy or semi-dictatorship.{{R|Cheibub2010|page1=71|quote1="This enables users of our dataset either to recode these cases as democracies—risking type I errors (false positives)—or to remove them from the analysis. Note that the Type II variable does not identify “intermediate” or “hybrid” cases, cases of semi-democracy or cases of semi-dictatorship. Under our conception of regime, all regimes are either democracy or dictatorship; but in these key cases we simply cannot tell which one given what we observe about the country (so far)."}}. The authors acknowledged that the last rule is more complicated to implement, but stated that it helps researchers to control potential errors and removes subjective judgement from the classification.{{R|Cheibub2010|page1=70|quote=The implementation of the last rule is more complicated since it requires that we make one assumption and one decision about what kind of error we are willing to accept. It does not, however, require any subjective judgment on the part of the analyst and hence does not compromise the classification’s reproducibility.}}

== Countries ==
{{for|overview of democracy indices|Democracy indices}}
{{Center|''Note: the most recent dataset was released in 2008.''}}
The Democracy-Dictatorship Index has the main regime types of "democracy" and "dictatorship" and three sub-types for each as well. Democracies can be either [[Democracy-Dictatorship Index#Democracy Classification|parliamentary]], [[Democracy-Dictatorship Index#Democracy Classification|semi-presidential]], or [[Democracy-Dictatorship Index#Democracy Classification|presidential]] and dictatorships can be civilian, military, or royal. Many countries which are seen as otherwise democratic are dictatorships because there has yet to be an alternation in power since their incumbent government has never lost an election. Therefore, it is impossible to know if the regime is a democracy or a dictatorship, so DD Index considers them dictatorships until an alternation in power occurs.<!-- The table below offers a full list of which countries are what type of democracy. Keep note that the head of state, chief executive, government, and legislatures can have their official names be seemingly contradictory to this classification. The name a democracy gives itself or its office does not indicate what type of democracy it is. -->
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
Countries by regime type (2008)<ref name="DDdata">{{Cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/site/joseantoniocheibub/datasets/dd?authuser=0 |title=DD - José Antonio Cheibub |website=sites.google.com |access-date=2022-09-05}}</ref>
!Regime
!Type
!Subtype
!Reason for Dictatorship<ref name="DDdata" />
|-
|{{flagcountry|AFG|2004}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|ALB}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|DZA}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|AND}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|AGO}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected
|-
|{{flagcountry|ATG}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ARG}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ARM}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|AUS}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|AUT}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|AZE|1991}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|BHS}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BHR}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. No parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|BGD}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. No Legislature<br>3. No legislative parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|BRB}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BLR}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|BEL}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BLZ|1981}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BEN}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BTN}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BOL}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BIH}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected
|-
|{{flagcountry|BWA}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|BRA}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BRN}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. Legislature not elected<br>3. One party
|-
|{{flagcountry|BGR}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|BFA}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|BDI}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|KHM}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>3. No legislative parties 
|-
|{{flagcountry|CMR}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|CAN}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|CPV}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|CAF}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|TCD}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|CHL}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|CHN}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|3. All parties are in regime
|-
|{{flagcountry|COL}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|COM}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|COG}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|CRI}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|CIV}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|HRV}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|CUB}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|CYP}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|CZE}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|COD}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|DNK}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|DJI}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|3. One legislative party
|-
|{{flagcountry|DMA}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|DOM}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|TLS}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ECU}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|EGY}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|SLV}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|GNQ}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|ERI}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. Legislature not elected<br>3. All parties banned<br>4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|EST}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ETH|1996}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|3. All parties are in regime<br>4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|FJI}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. No Legislature<br>3. No Legislative parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|FIN}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|FRA|1974}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|GAB}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|GMB}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|GEO}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|DEU}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|GHA}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|GRC}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|GRD}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|GTM}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|GIN}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected
|-
|{{flagcountry|GNB}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|GUY}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|HTI}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|HND|1949}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|HUN}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ISL}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|IND}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|IDN}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|IRN}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|IRQ}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|All parties in regime
|-
|{{flagcountry|IRL}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ISR}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ITA}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|JAM}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|JPN}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|JOR}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected
|-
|{{flagcountry|KAZ}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|KEN}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|KIR}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|KWT}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>3. All parties legally banned
|-
|{{flagcountry|KGZ}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|LAO}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|3. Legally single party state
|-
|{{flagcountry|LVA}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|LBN}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|LSO}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|LBR}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|LBY|1977}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. Legislature is appointed<br>3. No parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|LIE}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|LTU}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|LUX}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MKD|name=Macedonia}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MDG}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MWI}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MYS}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|3. All parties in regime<br>4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|MDV}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MLI}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MLT}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MHL}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MRT|1959}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. No Legislature<br>3. No Legislative parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|MUS}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MEX}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|FSM}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MDA}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MNG|1992}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|MNE}}||Dictatorship ||Civilian Dictatorship{{clarify|date=January 2023|reason=contradicts main classification}}
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|MAR}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected
|-
|{{flagcountry|MOZ}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|MMR|1974}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. No Legislature<br>3. No Legislative parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|NAM}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|NRU}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|NPL}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|NLD}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|NZL}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|NIC}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|NER}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|NGA}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|PRK}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected
|-
|{{flagcountry|NOR}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|OMN}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. Legislature is closed<br>3. No Legislative parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|PAK}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|PLW}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|PAN}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|PNG}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|PRY}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|PER}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|PHL}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|POL}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|PRT}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|QAT}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. Legislature not elected<br>3. No Legislative parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|ROU}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|RUS}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|RWA}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|SAM}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|SMR|1862}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|STP}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SAU}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. Legislature not elected<br>3. No Legislative parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|SEN}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SRB|2004}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SYC}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|SLE}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SGP}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|SVK}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SVN}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SLB}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SOM}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|2. Legislature not elected<br>3. No Legislative parties
|-
|{{flagcountry|ZAF}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|KOR}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ESP}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|LKA}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|KNA}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|LCA}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|VCT}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SDN}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. Legislature not elected
|-
|{{flagcountry|SUR}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SWZ|name=Swaziland}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>3. Legally single party state
|-
|{{flagcountry|SWE}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|CHE}}||Democracy||Direct Democracy<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 March 2024 |title=Political system |url=https://www.aboutswitzerland.eda.admin.ch/en/political-system}}</ref>
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|SYR|1980}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|3. All parties in regime
|-
|{{flagcountry|TWN}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|TJK}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|TZA}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|THA|1917}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|TGO}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|TON}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. Legislature not elected<br>3. All parties legally banned<br>4. No alternation in power 
|-
|{{flagcountry|TTO}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|TUN}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power 
|-
|{{flagcountry|TUR}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|TKM}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|3. Legally one party state
|-
|{{flagcountry|TUV}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy 
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|UGA}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power 
|-
|{{flagcountry|UKR}}||Democracy||Semi-Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|ARE}}||Dictatorship||Royal Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>2. No Legislature<br>3. No Legislative parties 
|-
|{{flagcountry|UK}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|USA}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|URY}}||Democracy||Presidential Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|UZB}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|3. One party<br>4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|VUT}}||Democracy||Parliamentary Democracy
|
|-
|{{flagcountry|VEN}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|VNM}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|1. Executive not elected<br>3. One party
|-
|{{flagcountry|YEM}}||Dictatorship||Military Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|ZMB}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|-
|{{flagcountry|ZWE}}||Dictatorship||Civilian Dictatorship
|4. No alternation in power
|}

== Democracy classification ==
[[File:Classifying Democracy.png|thumb|388x388px|A flowchart for the classification of democracies. Note that the official names do not determine their classification.]]

Democracies are classified by the rules in which executives can be appointed or removed and can be either presidential, mixed or semi-presidential, or parliamentary.<ref name="Cheibub2010"/>{{R|CGG|page1=454}} These names do not have to correspond to the official or colloquial titles of any of the countries offices. For example, DD could classify a country which has a legislative assembly whose official name is "the parliament" but still classify it in any of the three categories. The classification depends on the rules outlining the relationship between a country's government, legislative assembly (often called the legislature), and head of state.{{R|CGG|page1=454}} The government composes the chief executive and the heads of the executive departments. The chief executive can take many titles including [[Chancellor#Head of government|chancellor]], [[prime minister]], or [[premier]] and the heads of the executive departments can bear different titles and be called different things. In the [[United Kingdom]], for example, the chief executive is the [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|prime minister]], and the [[British Government frontbench|ministers]] are the heads of the executive departments, which together compose the government.

=== Legislative responsibility ===
The first distinction made is whether a country has a government has legislative responsibility, i.e. whether a majority vote in the legislature can remove the sitting government without cause. The required majority needed to remove the sitting government varies between countries but is termed a vote of no confidence.{{R|CGG|page1=455}} Some countries (such as Spain, Belgium, Germany, and Israel) require that the vote of no confidence also specify who is going to replace the sitting government to minimize the time without an interim government, essentially replacing one government with another. This type of vote is termed a constructive vote of no confidence.{{R|CGG|page1=455}} Sometimes sitting governments will attach a vote of no confidence clause to a piece of legislation they want passed, effectively tying the survival of the government on the piece of legislation.{{R|CGG|page1=456}}

=== Head of state ===
The second distinction made is whether the head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term. The head of state may be [[Monarch|unelected]] and still be classified as a democracy.<ref name="Cheibub2010"/> Popularly elected means that the head of state is directly elected by the citizens or elected by an assembly which then elects them (an example being the electoral college in the United States). In Germany, the head of state is elected by regional legislatures and not popularly elected.{{R|CGG|page1=457}} Elected heads of state are usually referred to as "president." The phrase "fixed term" indicates the once the head of state is chosen, they serve a known and a limited number of years before another election is held, and they cannot be removed from the office in the meantime via a [[vote of no confidence]].{{R|CGG|page1=456}}

The head of state in most parliamentary democracies formally appoint the head of government.{{R|CGG|page1=465}} Some countries, such as Greece and Bulgaria, stipulate who the head of state chooses as head of government. [[Prime Minister of Greece#Election and appointment of the Prime Minister|In the former]], for example, the President must appoint as Prime Minister the leader of the largest party in parliament, who has three days to gain the confidence of a majority thereof. Some countries, [[Prime Minister of Sweden#Appointment|such as Sweden]], instead charge another person entirely with choosing the head of government, such as the presiding officer of the legislative assembly.

=== Classification ===
The first distinction made is whether a democracy's government is responsible to the legislature. If it is not responsible, it is a presidential democracy. If it is, then a further distinction is made between democracies where the head of state is popularly elected and those where the head of state is not popularly elected. If the head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term then, the democracy is mixed or semi-presidential. If the head of state serves for life or is not popularly elected or a fixed term, then the democracy is parliamentary.{{R|Cheibub2010}}

=== Definitions ===
A presidential democracy has a government that does not need the majority support of a legislature to stay in power. A semi-presidential (mixed) democracy has a government that needs the majority of support from a legislature to exist and whose head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term. Parliamentary democracy is the same as semi-presidential but has heads of state which are not popularly elected for a fixed term, typically either monarchs or officials not chosen by popular elections. {{R|CGG|page1=457}}

== Comparison with other democracy-measuring data sets ==
The DD dataset is limited to 199 countries after 1946, whereas Boix, Miller, & Rosato, 2013 proposed a data set from 1800 to 2007, covering 219 countries. The 2010 version of Polity data series covers 189 countries from 1800 to 2009.<ref name= "Boix, Miller, & Rosato, 2013"/> Gugiu & Centellas developed the [[Democracy Cluster Classification]] Index that integrates five [[Democracy indices|democracy indicators]] (including the DD dataset, Polity dataset), clustering 24 American and 39 European regimes over 30 years.<ref name="GugiuCentellas 2013" />

== See also ==
* [[Polity data series]]

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="Alvarez1996">{{cite journal |last1=Alvarez |first1=M. |title=Classifying political regimes |last2=Cheibub |first2=J. A. |last3=Limongi |first3=F. |last4=Przeworski|first4=A. |journal=[[Studies in Comparative International Development]] |year=1996 |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=3–36 |doi=10.1007/bf02719326 |s2cid=154376266}}</ref>

<ref name="Cheibub2010">{{cite journal |last1=Cheibub |first1=José Antonio |last2=Gandhi |first2=Jennifer |last3 = Vreeland |first3=James Raymond |title=Democracy and dictatorship revisited |journal=[[Public Choice (journal)|Public Choice]] |volume=143 |issue=1–2 |pages=67–101 |doi=10.1007/s11127-009-9491-2 |jstor=40661005 |date=April 2010 |s2cid=45234838}}</ref>

<ref name= "GugiuCentellas 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Ristei |first1=Mihaiela |last2=Centellas |first2=Miguel |title=The Democracy Cluster Classification Index |journal=[[Political Analysis (journal)|Political Analysis]] |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=334–349 |doi=10.1093/pan/mpt004 |date=Summer 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="Keech2013">{{cite book |last=Keech |first=William R. |title=Economic Politics in the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2UeyAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |access-date=24 March 2014 |date=14 October 2013 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-1-107-00414-6 |pages=17– |quote=Specifically, the DD index (for Democracy and Dictatorship) assesses the United States as a democracy from 1946, the first measured, through 2008, the last year of measurement. ... My definition of a democracy is minimalist, like the DD definition of Cheibub, Gadhi, and Vreeland (2010), but it adds a dimension. Like DD, it considers the presence of contested elections a necessary condition of ....}}</ref>

<ref name= "Haggard&Kaufman2013">{{cite journal |last1=Haggard | first1=Stephan |last2=Kaufman |first2=Robert R. |title=Inequality and regime change: democratic transitions and the stability of democratic rule |journal=[[American Political Science Review]] |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=495–516 |doi=10.1017/S0003055412000287 |date=August 2012 |s2cid=28273700}}</ref>

<ref name="CGG">{{cite book |last1=Clark |first1=Robert Williams |last2=Golder |first2=Matt |last3=Golder |first3=Nadenichek |date=2018 |title=Principles of Comparative Politics |pages= 454–467|publisher=SAGE Publications | isbn=978-1506318127 |edition=3rd}}</ref>

<ref name= "Boix, Miller, & Rosato, 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Boix |first1=Carles |author1-link=Carles Boix |last2=Miller |first2=Michael |last3=Rosato | first3 = Sebastian |title=A complete data set of political regimes, 1800–2007 |journal=[[Comparative Political Studies]] |volume=46 |issue=12 |pages=1523–1554 |doi=10.1177/0010414012463905 |date=December 2013 |s2cid=45833659}}</ref>

<ref name="Przeworski 2003">{{cite book |last=Przeworski |first=Adam|editor=Robert Alan Dahl, Ian Shapiro& José Antônio Cheibub |title=The Democracy Sourcebook |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B8THIuSkiqgC&pg=PA12 |access-date=24 March 2014 |year=2003 |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0-262-54147-3 |page=12 |chapter=Minimalist Conception of Democracy: A Defense}}</ref>
</references>

== External links==
* [https://sites.google.com/site/joseantoniocheibub/datasets/democracy-and-dictatorship-revisited DD dataset and citations ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223220153/https://sites.google.com/site/joseantoniocheibub/datasets/democracy-and-dictatorship-revisited |date=2014-02-23 }}
* [https://sites.google.com/site/joseantoniocheibub/datasets/democracy-and-development-aclp ACLP datsset and citations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315183645/https://sites.google.com/site/joseantoniocheibub/datasets/democracy-and-development-aclp |date=2014-03-15 }}
* [http://wikisum.com/w/Przeworski,_Alvarez,_Cheibub,_and_Limongi:_Democracy_and_development Przeworski, Alvarez, Cheibub, and Limongi: Democracy and development] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324051646/http://wikisum.com/w/Przeworski,_Alvarez,_Cheibub,_and_Limongi:_Democracy_and_development |date=2014-03-24 }} From WikiSummary, the Free Social Science Summary Database

{{Authoritarian types of rule}}

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