

The Polity scores can also be converted into regime categories in a suggested three part categorization of "autocracies" (-10 to -6), "anocracies" (-5 to +5 and three special values: -66, -77 and -88), and "democracies" (+6 to +10). The "Polity Score" captures this regime authority spectrum on a 21-pont scale ranging from -10 (hereditary monarchy) to +10 (consolidated democracy). This perspective envisions a spectrum of governing authority that spans from fully institutionalized autocracies through mixed, or incoherent, authority regimes (termed "anocracies") to fully institutionalized democracies. The Polity conceptual scheme is unique in that it examines concomitant qualities of democratic and autocratic authority in governing institutions, rather than discreet and mutually exclusive forms of governance. The PITF terminated its support for Polity in early 2020. With the support of the Political Instability Task Force (PITF), the Polity IV Project was transformed into a living data collection effort, meaning that it constantly monitors regime changes in all major countries and provides annual assessments of regime authority characteristics, changes and data updates. The Polity5 dataset covers all major, independent states in the global system over the period 1800-2018 (i.e., states with a total population of 500,000 or more in the most recent year currently 167 countries with Polity5 refinements completed for about half those countries).

DEMOCRACY 3 MANUAL SERIES
An improved and enhanced Polity5 version in the series is currently in development. The Polity5 Project continues the Polity research tradition of coding authority characteristics of states in the world system for purposes of comparative, quantitative analysis.
