The OECD Reinforcing Democracy Initiative

Annex A. Methodology for the IDEA indicators

Table A ‎A.1. Social Group Equality

Indicator	Description/Question	Data set
Social group equality in respect for civil liberties (v2clsocgrp)	ES: Do all social groups, as distinguished by language, ethnicity, religion, race, region or caste, enjoy the same level of civil liberties, or are some groups generally in a more favourable position?	V-Dem
Power distributed by social group (v2pepwrsoc)	ES: Is political power distributed according to social groups?	V-Dem
Power distributed by sexual orientation (v2pepwrort)	ES: Is political power distributed according to sexual orientation?	V-Dem
Exclusion by political group index (v2xpe_ exlpol)	ES: Index of political exclusion by political group	V-Dem
Exclusion by social group index (v2xpe_exlsocgr)	ES: Index of political exclusion by social group	V-Dem
Political Pluralism and Participation (B4)	In House Coding (IC): Do various segments of the population (including ethnic, racial, religious, gender, LGBT+, and other relevant groups) have full political rights and electoral opportunities?	Freedom in the World
Rule of Law (F4)	IC: Do laws, policies, and practices guarantee equal treatment of various segments of the population?	Freedom in the World
Equal opportunity (equal)	IC: Ten-point scale corresponding to answer choices that range from ‘Equality of opportunity is not achieved. Women and/or members of ethnic, religious and other groups have only very limited access to education, public office and employment. There are no legal provisions against discrimination’ to ‘Equality of opportunity is achieved. Women and members of ethnic, religious and other groups have equal access to education, public office and employment. There is a comprehensive and effective legal and institutional framework for the protection against discrimination’	BTI

Source: International IDEA (2024), “The Global State of Democracy Indices and Methodology”, https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/2024-09/gsod-indices-methodology-v8-2024.pdf.

Table A ‎A.2. Gender Equality

Indicator	Description/Question	Data set
Power distributed by gender (v2pepwrgen)	Expert Surveys (ES): Is political power distributed according to gender?	V-Dem
CSO women’s participation (v2csgender)	ES: Are women prevented from participating in civil society organisations?	V-Dem
Female vs. male mean years of schooling	Observational Data	GHDx
Lower chamber female legislators (v2lgfemleg)	Observational Data	V-Dem
Exclusion by gender index (v2xpe_exlgender)	ES: Index of political exclusion by gender	V-Dem
Women’s political rights (wopol)	In House Coding (IC): How extensive are laws pertaining to women’s political rights (right to vote, to run for political office, to hold elected and appointed government positions, to join political parties, to petition government officials); how effectively does the government enforce the laws?	CIRIGHTS
Women’s economic rights (wecon)	IC: How extensive are laws pertaining to women’s economic rights equal pay for equal work, free choice of profession, right to gainful employment, non-discrimination etc.); how effectively does the government enforce the laws?	CIRIGHTS
Political empowerment	CM: The Global Gender Gap Index examines the gap between men and women across four fundamental categories (subindexes): Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.	Global Gender Gap Report
Labour force participation rate (women-men) (EAP_DWARP_SEX_AGE_RT)	Observational Data	ILO
Share of managerial positions held by women (SDG_T552_NOC_RT)	Observational Data	ILO
Control of bank accounts (women-men) (FX.OEN.TOTL.FE.ZS, FX.OWN.TOTL.MA.ZS)	Observational Data	World Bank

Source: International IDEA (2024), “The Global State of Democracy Indices and Methodology”, https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/2024-09/gsod-indices-methodology-v8-2024.pdf.