MEASURING DEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITY: AN INITIAL REPORT ON AN EMERGING DATA SET.

In this paper, we report on a new dataset based on expert surveys carried out in nearly 90 countries around the world. This dataset helps to overcome the limited existence of cross-national data on democratic linkage mechanisms between citizens and politicians, especially with regard to contingent exchange of targeted goods for electoral support as most studies that have examined democratic accountability have a narrow geographic focus or are single-case studies. The report outlines the various methodological challenges faced in implementing the survey and in interpreting its results, as well as steps taken to determine the quality of the data. This preliminary analysis of results from the survey lends support that the various indicators developed from the survey are reliable and valid measures of political parties' actual organizational practices, linkage mechanisms, and policy orientations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]