Constitutions are supposed to provide an enduring structure for politics. Yet only half live more than nineteen years. Why is it that some constitutions endure while others do not? In The Endurance of National Constitutions, Zachary Elkins, Tom Ginsburg, and James Melton examine the causes of…
Activities & Achievements
What We Do
Activities & Achievements
Transforming information into knowledge
that advances human flourishing.
Explore how the Cline Center and its affiliates are pursuing our shared vision through research, education, collaboration, and outreach.
Definitions of Destabilizing Events in SPEED
This document is designed to provide operators of the EXTRACT suite of programs with an accessible guide to the definition and meaning of events intended to be captured in the Societal Stability Protocol (SSP) with the Social, Political and Economic Event Database (SPEED) project. It is a…
Do "We" Have a Stake in This War? A Worldwide Test of the In-Group Out-Group Hypothesis Using Open-Source Intelligence
This paper was presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the International Studies Association on March 16-19. It discusses how international relations scholars have long suspected that popular support for war is structured in part by in-group reactions to out-group threats. Huntington’…
The Coup D'Etat Project (CDP)
Coup d'états are important events in the life of a country. They constitute an important subset of irregular transfers of political power that can have important and enduring consequences for a country’s well-being. This notwithstanding, a comprehensive and well-documented inventory of coups has…
Fault Lines: Why the Republicans Lost Congress (Controversies in Electoral Democracy and Representation)
In some years elections bring about enduring changes to the American political scene. In 2006, a pivotal election year, the Republicans suffered a resounding defeat, losing the House and Senate for the first time since the 1994 "Republican Revolution." But what caused this pivotal shift? …
Gauging Civil Unrest with SPEED Data: The Societal Stability Protocol and the Intensity of Civil Unrest
Destabilizing events - whether they are political expression events, politically motivated attacks, disruptive state acts, or some other manifestation of discontent - can vary enormously in their intensity. It is important to capture differences in intensity because they can affect the impact of…
Measuring Cross-National and Inter-Temporal Differences in Law-Based Orders: 1946-2010
While scholars have grappled with the conceptual ambiguities surrounding the concept of “the rule of law” for well over a century, there has been a renewed interest in this concept in the last two decades. This revival is due in large part to widespread agreement that law based order plays a…
Data Science Resources at Illinois
There are a number of data science resources at the University of Illinois that support research in the social sciences and digital humanities. Use the link below to view a list (in alphabetical order) of the groups who are conducting extreme-scale social science and digital humanities…
Presidential Campaigns and Presidential Accountability (Democracy, Free Enterprise, and the Rule)
In investigating the presidential campaigns and early administrations of Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton, Presidential Campaigns and Presidential Accountability shows how campaign promises are realized in government once the victor is established in the Oval…
The Origins of Destabilizing Events
Destabilizing events such as those captured by SPEED's Societal Stability Protocol (SSP) - protests, politically motivated attacks, disruptive state acts, mass movements of people, irregular transfers of political power - do not happen in a vacuum. Rather, most are rooted in something.…
Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics: Opinions Surveys and the Will of the People
Scott Athaus
Cambridge University Press, 2003
Schroeder Graduate Fellowship Program
The Schroeder Summer Graduate Fellowship Program is made possible by a generous gift from William A. and Paul W. Schroeder. The aim of the program is to enhance the quality of rigorous research on topics that fall within on-going research programs at the Cline Center by helping graduate students…
Domestic Perspectives on Contemporary Democracy (Democracy, Free Enterprise, and the Rule)
In looking at the remarkable proliferation of democracies since 1974, this volume offers important insight into the challenges and opportunities that democracy faces in the twenty-first century. Distinguished contributors detail difficulties that democracies face from within and how they deal…
The Quality and Reliability of Data Generated by SPEED's Societal Stability Protocol: Mechanisms and Tests
Extracting information from global news reports in the post WWII era makes it possible to capitalize on the billions of dollars that have been invested in reporting on newsworthy events during that timeframe. It also offers unprecedented opportunities to improve our understanding of important…
The Composition of Religious and Ethnic Groups (CREG) Project
The Composition of Religious and Ethnic Groups (CREG) project is a large-scale effort initiated by the Cline Center as part of its Societal Infrastructures and Development (SID) project. Its objective is to fill an important void in the field of comparative politics by creating a set of time-…