The Combined Polity Score Preceding the Arab World's Political Shift

The Combined Polity score measures a country's political system by combining its democracy and autocracy scores. It ranges from +10 (highly democratic) to -10 (highly autocratic). Although it simplifies complex theories, it should be interpreted with caution. The original theory suggests that democracy and autocracy are distinct but can coexist. The Polity Score helps to analyze general regime effects. It's a valuable tool for understanding political regimes, but should be used alongside other methods for a comprehensive analysis. This figure shows the combined Polity Score during the decade before mass movements in some Arab countries that experienced changes in their political systems beginning in 2011.