Database of Political Institutions 2017: Global Political and Electoral Data, 1975-2017

180 countries are covered in this database of political institutions and electoral results from 1975 to 2017. It includes measures of checks and balances, government tenure and stability, party ideology, and legislative fragmentation. Researchers at the World Bank Development Research Group first compiled the database, which is now hosted at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Use Cases

• Modeling the impact of checks and balances on economic policy based on institutional measures.
• Analyzing government stability and tenure patterns across countries and time.
• Studying party system fragmentation and its effects on legislative outcomes.
• Classifying political parties by ideology and affiliation for cross-national comparison.

Strengths

• Covers about 180 countries, providing broad cross-national scope.
• Spans 40 years (1975-2017), enabling longitudinal analysis.
• One of the most cited databases in its field, indicating established use.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

World Bank Development Research Group (original), now hosted at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Collection Method

Compiled by researchers; likely from official electoral and government records.

Time Range

1975 to 2017

Geography

Global (approximately 180 countries)