This is what we are up against as we curate the news. First, in the original Substack article referring to this graph, there is no immediate definition of  democracy and autocracy.  Arguably, the U.S. is no longer a democratic institution, rather it is an electoral autocracy, but we need to dig more here.

Second, and what is V-Dem and how is it funded?  Here’s what Claude 2 says:

V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) is an academic project based at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden that produces datasets measuring democracy. Some key information about V-Dem’s funding:

– V-Dem is funded by multiple sources, including governments, foundations, international organizations, and academic institutions. Major funders include the European Research Council, Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and United States Agency for International Development.

– V-Dem follows transparency principles by making all its funding sources public on its website. This allows users to understand potential conflicts of interest or biases in the data based on who funds the project.

– As an academic project, V-Dem aims for objectivity and integrity in its data collection and analysis. The diversity of funders helps maintain independence and balance perspectives.

– However, some critics argue V-Dem has a pro-Western bias as it receives significant funding from Western governments and entities. But V-Dem counters it adheres to scientific best practices.

In summary, V-Dem relies on funding from multiple public and private sources, primarily in Europe and North America. It aims for neutrality but its funding sources have faced some criticism. V-Dem publishes its donors in the interest of transparency.

Not sure about Claude 2, especially so since I read this: Anthropic taught its AI to lie.. (Perhaps the best proof so far that AI really is ‘intellilgent”.)

If you look in the fine print you can learn more about how V-Dem defines democracy, but there is no link to that resource.

 

 

I suppose this is about as good as we can expect.  I don’t have more time to check on the quality of data and concepts and algorithms.  And you? How deeply are you diving into the facts of the game of Truth?  Forewarned–>Forearmed.