Polity data series

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/polity-data-series

1. What is the primary function?
2. What is the initiation date?
3. Who started the Polity data series and when?
4. How does the Polity data series decide if a country is democratic or autocratic?

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary function?Quantifies democratic and autocratic characteristics of states over time
2. What is the initiation date?Late 1960s
3. Who started the Polity data series and when?Ted Robert Gurr began it in the late 1960s to keep track of how governments change over time.
4. How does the Polity data series decide if a country is democratic or autocratic?It looks at how many people can vote, how many political parties exist, and whether leaders are checked by laws and accountability.

Comparative Politics: A subfield of political science that compares political systems across different countries.
Democratization: The process by which a country transitions from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one.
Autocratic Features: Characteristics of a government where power is concentrated in the hands of a single leader or a small elite.