Vox’s CIA-Backed ‘Democracy’ Standard Is OK With Slavery and Women Not Voting
Vox’s CIA-Backed ‘Democracy’ Standard Is OK With Slavery and Women Not Voting
By Adam Johnson
May
16
2016
Defining democracy is a notoriously difficult thing, but much is revealed by how media outlets choose to do so.
One popular metric is called “Polity IV”—a methodology created by the Center for Systemic Peace, headed by Dr. Monty G. Marshall of Georgetown University, which has been cited in prestigious outlets like the Washington Post and New York Times. But few outlets have embraced the method as enthusiastically as the “news explainer” site Vox.
Vox, which constantly tells its readers that life is actually swell, with the momentum of history indisputably on the road to justice, decreased poverty and less war, consistently uses Polity IV to prop up its argument that “democracy” is on the rise:
◾How the Fall of the Berlin Wall Changed the World, in One Chart (11/10/14)
◾26 Charts and Maps That Show the World Is Getting Much, Much Better (11/24/14)
◾The Animated Map That Explains the World (4/22/14)
◾The World Is Getting Better All the Time, in 11 Maps and Charts (7/13/15)
◾World Hunger Is at Its Lowest Point in at Least 25 Years. Thank Democracy (5/9/16)
But dig into the criteria being used and you find a troubling definition of “democracy” that serves the interests of US power—and wealthy elites. According to the Polity IV method, the United States during the time of slavery scored 9 out of 10 on the democracy scale. During the era of Jim Crow, when most blacks and women of all races couldn’t vote, it scored a perfect 10 out of 10—or “full democracy.”
More:
http://fair.org/home/voxs-cia-backed-democracy-standard-is-ok-with-slavery-and-women-not-voting/
