An R package to load, explore, and work with the Episodes of Regime Transformation (ERT) dataset - a project of the V-Dem Institute.

Episodes of Regime Transformation (ERT)

Load, explore, and work with the ERT dataset (for details see also the ERT Codebook):

• NOTE: for non-R users we provide the ERT dataset here as csv. or .xlsx file - however, we recommend loading the ERT dataset via the package since one huge advantage of the package is that it allows to flexibly set parameters for generating the episodes.
• RELEASES: ERT 14.0 is based on the V-Dem dataset v14. For earlier releases using earlier versions of the V-Dem dataset, see the "Releases" column on the right sight.

Functions

• get_eps: Identify episodes of regime transitions (autocratization, democratization) in the most recent V-dem data set. Autocratization is defined as any movement towards autocracy which starts within democracies or autocracies (cf. Maerz et al., Journal of Peace Research, 2023 and Lührmann and Lindberg, Democratization, 2019). Democratization is defined as any movement towards democracy which starts in autocracies or democracies (cf. Wilson et al., 2022)
• find_overlap: Find potential overlaps between episodes of democratization and autocratization which may occur depending on how the thresholds are set.
• plot_episodes: Plot Episodes of Regime Transitions (ERT) over time for a selected country.
• plot_all: Plot share or absolute number of all countries in Episodes of Regime Transitions (ERT) over time.

ShinyApp for validity tests

• For additional transparency, we provide a ShinyApp for validation which allows users to flexibly adjust the ERT parameters and to test how changes to the default thresholds affect the episodes and their validity.

Installation

# Install the development version of the ERT package 
# (this package is an ongoing project, 
# keep checking for updates)

# First, you need to have the devtools package installed
install.packages("devtools")
# now, install the ERT package directly from GitHub
devtools::install_github("vdeminstitute/ERT")

# NOTE: make sure you have an updated R version and
# - since the package is a development version - 
# an updated version of xcode (Mac), rtools (Windows), r-base-dev (Linux)
# installed. If you have troubles with the installation 
# write to contact@v-dem.net at the V-Dem Institute.