How is each variable measured? Why is each measure a good way to capture (operationalise) the underlying concepts from the theory?

Do cultural values best explain a country’s level of democracy?

Sections to Complete
1. INTRODUCTION: Using the logic of a Most Similar Systems Design, begin by choosing three of the following  countries to compare.
Albania
Azerbaijan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Colombia
Ecuador
Egypt
Ethiopia
Indonesia
Iran
Kazakhstan
Malaysia
Mexico
Montenegro
Nicaragua
Singapore
Tajikistan
Thailand
Zimbabwe
• Which countries did you pick? Why is a Most Similar Systems design suitable for comparing these countries?
• Tip: Briefly introduce your country selection at the start of the essay but place your discussion of Most Similar Systems Design and case selection into your methodology section, just prior to your data and analysis.

2. THEORY AND LITERATURE: Choose a cultural theory for democracy that we’ve discussed in class lectures to explore in greater detail. This theory will serve as the conceptual baseline for your explanation of democracy.
• A brief literature review will become a part of your theory section and should logically lead to the testable hypothesis that you state in the following section. Requirement: you need to refer to a minimum of four academic sources
about your chosen theory. (Please note that data sources do not count towards this minimum but should be cited where appropriate.)
 Tip: In conducting your review, you should draw primarily upon research about either cultural modernisation theory or civic culture theory to explain your countries’ expected level of democracy. You may reference economic modernisation as an alternative explanation but should not focus on economic theories in your review.

3. HYPOTHESIS AND METHOD: Select three variables that you will use to test whether your chosen countries’ level of democracy is more closely aligned with its cultural or economic development.
• Your predictor variable (IV) should be a cultural indicator of democracy that you discussed in your literature review. This predictor must come from the Joint EVS/WVS 2017–2020 dataset.
• Your outcome variable (DV) will serve as your measure of democracy must be taken from one of the five V–Dem aggregate indices.
• Your control variable (CV) should be an economic indicator of democracy taken from the World Bank or the United Nations.
• How is each variable measured? Why is each measure a good way to capture (operationalise) the underlying concepts from the theory?
• Write a hypothesis for your predictor variable. Requirement: You may not use any predictor or control variables that were specifically used in lectures. These include general happiness or life satisfaction from the WVS and economic variables that directly measure income, including but not limited to any form of GDP, GNI, etc.

Tip: The Frequency Tables: WVS ‘Joint v2.0 Results by Country’ PDF under ‘Documentation’ contains all the statistics that you will need to use in selecting your IV. These can be searched for by looking up survey questions in the ‘Joint Codebook’ PDF. The V–Dem Country Graph tool contains all the statistics that you will need to use for your DV. These are found under the V–Dem Indices drop–down menu (i.e., the first five ‘Democracy Index’ options: Deliberative Democracy Index, Egalitarian Democracy Index, etc.).

4. RESULTS AND ANALYSIS: Produce and analyse your results, using a table and discussion of your data.
• Collect data on your countries and create a table to summarise the comparison. You should have one table that includes data for the outcome variable (DV), predictor variable (IV), and control variable (CV) that you are using to test your theory.
• Is your hypothesis supported by the data? How do you know? Be sure to interpret the numbers explicitly – don’t just leave them in a table and write, ‘Table 1 shows my first hypothesis is correct’. Instead, write something like, ‘[Country 1] has the highest value of [IV] and the highest democracy rating, while [Country 2] has the lowest value
of both (Table 1), supporting my hypothesis.’ Requirement: You must include a table that is formatted to a professional standard in your submission.

Tip: A template is provided below. Please make sure that you replace the square–bracketed words as appropriate, e.g., Participatory Democracy Index instead of [DV].