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A Global Measure of Judicial Independence, 1948–2012

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2022

Drew A. Linzer  and
Jeffrey K. Staton
Drew A. Linzer
Affiliation:
Emory University
Jeffrey K. Staton
Affiliation:
Emory University
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Abstract

We present a new cross-national measure of de facto judicial independence, which is available for 200 countries from 1948 to 2012. To do so, we introduce a statistical measurement model for uncovering latent concepts commonly encountered in time-series, cross-sectional analyses in comparative politics and international relations. Our approach addresses unique challenges that arise in these data: temporal dependence in the observed and unobserved variables, conceptual boundedness in the latent quantity, and substantial missing data and measurement error in the observable indicators. The resulting measures match a common conceptual definition of independence with greater reliability than existing alternatives. The model is extensible to many concepts in comparative politics and international relations.

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Type
Research Article
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Journal of Law and Courts , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , Fall 2015 , pp. 223 - 256
Copyright
© 2015 by the Law and Courts Organized Section of the American Political Science Association. All rights reserved.

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