Political Atlas of the Modern World

How can we compare political systems in contemporary world politics? What measurements can we use to understand the political development of countries whose histories and culture make them so different? Political Atlas of the Modern World is a unique reference source which addresses these questions by providing a comparative study of the political systems of all 192 countries of the world.

Political Atlas of the Modern World. An Experiment in Multidimensional Statistical Analysis of the Political Systems of the Modern World / Andrei Melville with Yuri Polunin, Mikhail Ilyin, Mikhail Mironyuk, Ivan Timofeev, Elena Meleshkina, and Yan Vaslavskiy. - Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. - 246 pp. ISBN 978-1-4443-3580-4.

Using quantitative data and multidimensional statistical analysis, the Atlas ranks countries of the world to five indices of political development:

• Stateness
• External and internal threats
• Potential of international influence
• Quality of life
• Institutional basis of democracy

Illustrated throughout with tables and diagrams, the book describes the methodological tools used and the key research findings.

Contents

Introduction

1. Theoretical and Methodological Grounds of the Project

• 1.1. Comparative Analysis Methods
• 1.2. Methods of Multidimensional Statistical Analysis

1.3.      Overview of Precedents

2. Indices: Rationale and Structure

• 2.1. Stateness Index
• 2.2. External and Internal Threats Index
• 2.3. Index of Potential of International Influence
• 2.4. Quality of Life Index
• 2.5. Index of Institutional Basis of Democracy

3. Country Ratings

• 3.1. Countries Rated by the Stateness Index
• 3.2. Countries Rated by the External and Internal Threats Index
• 3.3. Countries Rated by the Index of Potential of International Influence
• 3.4. Countries Rated by the Quality of Life Index
• 3.5. Countries Rated by the Index of Institutional Basis of Democracy
• 3.6. Correlations between the Indices
• 3.7. Correlation between the Institutional Basis of Democracy Index and Democracy Indices of Other Projects

4. Countries Classified by Principal Components Method and Cluster Analysis

• 4.1. Countries Classified by the Principal Components Method
• 4.2. Countries Classified by the Cluster Analysis

5. From Universal Comparisons to Country Profiles

• 5.1. The United States in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.2. The United Kingdom in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.3. Germany in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.4. France in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.5. Japan in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.6. China in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.7. India in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.8. Brazil in Multidimensional ClassificationsФ
• 5.9. North Korea in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.10. Myanmar in Multidimensional Classifications
• 5.11. Russia and Other Post-Communist States in Multidimensional Classifications

Conclusion

Index of Countries

Index of Names