Comments on: Democracy indicator added

By: How to Get Six Pack Fast

How to Get Six Pack Fast — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:05:53 +0000

I noticed that this is not the first time you mention the topic. Why have you chosen it again?

By: admin

admin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:19:10 +0000

Ola,
thanks for the great idea of adding voter turn-out. That is certainly an issue that would be interesting to look at over time, since it is often debated. We will see if we can add it in the future.

regards,
Mattias, Gapminder

By: Ola S

Ola S — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:22:33 +0000

Talking about Democracy:

“Within his first day in office, President Obama signed off the Memorandum of Transparency and Open Government and the Freedom of Information Act. Both clearly aim to engage the public in policy making and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information.”

Source: http://infosthetics.com/archives/2009/03/open_up_government_data.html

By: Ola S

Ola S — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:31:18 +0000

There it was: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout
And I found tax% – even though it was far lower than I thought for Sweden.

On Wikipedia “Voter turnout” it says that “Wealth and literacy have some effect on turnout, but are not reliable measures.” and “The United Nations Human Development Index shows some correlation between higher standards of living and higher turnout.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

Interesting enough, UN-HDI might be the combined penthouse apartment of perceived and benchmarked happiness, which also could make an interesting indicator.

By: Ola S

Ola S — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 12:50:52 +0000

The other day we discussed democracy from the % of population eligible to vote, that actually vote. It was easy to find statistics from Sweden, but it not so easy to find it from, i.e. the US.
% of population voting could be interesting to test as a Democracy indicator.

Likewise, % of income per person that goes to govenment spending = the collective tax.

Since, I am sure that Household Income statement per person (=Household budget per person) will be put into reality of economics in the furture. Because the income statement per person should basically follow Maslow’s theory of need (a theory I personally think will be revised) – and thus spending of time or money will want to be tested.
Interesting though – there does not yet seam to be an accounting standard for Household economics. So it should make for an interesting academic task to publish.

By: Ian Hickson

Ian Hickson — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:23:17 +0000

How is the data for the next 200 years or so determined? (Several countries have data beyond 2009.)

Incidentally, what would be really useful would be to be able to dynamically create new indicators derived from others — in particular, dividing certain indicators, like total debt, by other indicators, like GDP, and charting those against other indicators, might lead to interesting insights.

By: Neill Edwards

Neill Edwards — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:02:11 +0000

While the chart – as shown – is extremely informative, it does not show the all too apparent separation between the actual governors and those governed. Fairly simple examinations show that in many – possibly even in the majority of nations, there is some form of ruling oligarchy, to which us peons have to eventually kow-tow, – or start a revolution. Winston Churchill once said something like “I hate democracy, but it is the best form of government we have…” Also, so far as I’m aware, all forms of government extant today base their rule on FEAR of consequences, not on people’s abilities, achievements or contributions made to society. Apparently, the early Amerindians DID have such societies, where one’s contributions to society formed the definitions of richness and wealth, not the amount one had deposited in a bank.