Political Science: Conflict, Military & Security

Use these resources to find popular cross national political science datasets and additional tools to find them.

International Statistics & Comparative Datasets

The Quality of Government Institute - QoG Datasets
The flagship datasest is the QoG Standard Dataset, which is available in both cross-section and time-series. The QoG Basic Dataset is easier to use, offering the most used and the most qualitative variables in terms of data from the QoG Standard Dataset. The QoG OECD covers countries who are members of the OECD. The EU Regional Data consists of approximately 450 variables from Eurostat and other sources. The QoG Expert Survey is a dataset based on our survey of experts on public administration around the world.

See codebook for comprehensive list of links to political science datasets on almost any political topic you can think of.
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Data Sources:
Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions Dataset
AidData v. 2.1
Archigos. A Data Base on Leaders 1875 - 2004.
Autocratic Regime Data
Bertelsmann Transformation Index
Boix-Miller-Rosato Dichotomous Coding of Democracy, Version 2.0
Centripetal Democratic Governance
Characteristics of National Constitutions
Civil Society Organizations
Classification of Political Regimes
Comparative Political Data Set
Comparative Political Parties Dataset
Conntestation and Inclusiveness, 1950-2000
Corruption Perceptions Database
Country Ruggedness and Geographical Data
Country Statistical Profiles
CSES dataset
Data from Freedom Rising by Christian Welzel
Data used in the article "The Quality of Government"
Database of Political Institutions
Dataset for Information and Accountability Transparency
Democratic Electoral Systems Around the World 1946-2011
Economic Freedom of the World Dataset
Educational Attainment Dataset
Electoral Integrity Project (Version 3.5)
Electoral Systems and the Personal Vote
Environmental Performance Data
Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators
ESS1-6, European Social Survey - Cumulative File Rounds 1-6
Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country
Ethnolinguistic Fractionalization Indices, 1961 and 1985
Eurostat Datasets
Event History Coding of Democratic Breakdowns
Expanded Trade and GDP Data
FAO Statistics
Fractionalisation
Fragile States Index
Freedom of the World
Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 Data
Global Competitiveness Report
Global Corruption Barometer
Global Educational Attainment 1970-2015
Global Footprint Data
Global Integrity Report - Data
Global Terrorism Index
Governance Report Indicators. Public
Opinion Data
Hertie Governance Indicators 2014. The Indexes dataset
HRV Transparency Project
Human Development Report
ICRG Indicator of Quality of Government
IDA Resource Allocation Index (IRAI)
Index of African Governance
Index of Economic Freedom
Institutional Quality Dataset
Institutions and Elections Project Data
International IDEA Unified Database
Inter-Parliamentary Union Data
KOF Index of Globalization
Luxembourg Income Study Database and the Luxembourg Wealth Study Database
Maddison Project Database
Major Episodes of Political Violence
Dataset
Measures of Democracy 1810-2012
Measuring Income Inequality Database
Memberships in Conventional Intergovernmental Organizations Dataset
National Accounts Main Aggregates Database
National Average Happiness
National Elections Across Democracy and Autocracy
Natural Resource Management Index Data
New Data on Autocratic Breakdown and Regime Transitions
Oil and Gas Data, 1932-2014
Penn World Table
Pippa Norris. 2009. Democracy Time-series Dataset
Political Terror Scale
Polity IV Annual Time-Series, 1800-2014
Press Freedom
Red List of Threatened Species (version 2015.4)
Religion and State Project Constitutions Dataset and World Religion Dataset National Religion Dataset
Rule of Law Index
Sea Around Us Project Data
Settler Mortality
Shadow Economies: Model Based estimates
Social Citizenship Indicator Programme Database
Social Justice Index
State Antiquity Index
State Fragility Index and Matrix
Sustainable Governance Indicators
The Authoritarian Regime Dataset
The Cingranelli-Richards Human Rights Dataset
The Comparative Welfare Entitlements Dataset
The Economic Effects of Constitutions
The Economist Intelligence Unit's index of democracy
The ICTD Government Revenue Dataset
The ICTWSS database
The Logic of Political Survival Data Source
The Long-Term Effects of Africa's Slave Trades Dataset
The Ocean Health Index Data
The Parliamentary Powers Index
The Political Constraints Data
The QoG Expert-Survey
The World Top Incomes Database
The Worldwide Governance Indicators
UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflict Dataset
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Unified Democracy Scores
Varieties of Democracy Dataset
World Development Indicators
World Economic Outlook Database
World Values Survey Dataset and European Values Studies dataset
Comparative Agendas Project: Datasets & Codebooks
The Comparative Agendas Project (CAP) assembles and codes information on the policy processes of governments from around the world.
Integrated Network for Societal Conflict Research (INSCR) Data Page
Datasets include:
Armed Conflict and Intervention (ACI) Datasets: Forcibly Displaced Populations; Major Episodes of Political Violence; PITF State Failure Problem Set; High Casualty Terrorist Bombings; Memberships in Conventional Intergovernmental Organizations (CIO)
Polity IV: Regime Authority Characteristics and Transitions Datasets: Polity IV Annual Time-Series; Polity IVd Polity-Case Format; Coups d'Etat
State Fragility Index and Matrix: State Fragility Index and Matrix; State Fragility Index and Matrix, Time-Series Data
Conflict in India Datasets: Crime in India: Riots, Murders and Dacoity; India Sub-National Problem Set
AidData
AidData is a collaborative initiative to provide products and services that promote the dissemination, analysis, and understanding of development finance information. At the core of the AidData program is the AidData web portal, which is a gateway to nearly 1 million records of development finance activities from donors around the world.
Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) is a disaggregated data collection, analysis, and crisis mapping project. ACLED collects the dates, actors, locations, fatalities, and types of all reported political violence and protest events across Africa, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Southeastern and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The ACLED team conducts analysis to describe, explore, and test conflict scenarios, and makes both data and analysis open for free use by the public.
Correlates of War datasets
The Correlates of War project collects and disseminates quantitative data in international relations. Datasets include: COW Country Codes; State System Membership; COW War Data; Militarized Interstate Disputes; Militarized Interstate Dispute Locations; National Material Capabilities; World Religion Data; Formal Alliances; Territorial Change; Direct Contiguity; Colonial/Dependency Contiguity; Intergovernmental Organizations; Diplomatic Exchange; Trade.

Cross National Time-Series (CNTS)
The Cross-National Time-Series Data Archive was launched by Arthur S. Banks in the fall of 1968 at the State University of New York at Binghamton. The archive was, in part, the outcome of an effort initiated some years earlier to assemble, in machine readable, longitudinal format, certain of the aggregate data resources of The Statesman's Yearbook, published since 1864. The archive has almost 200 variables and contains data for over 200 country units, with provision for entries from 1815 (excluding the two modern wartime periods, 1914-1918 and 1940-1945)
International Country Risk Guide: Table 3B: Political Risk Points by Component
The ICRG Researcher's Dataset - Table 3B provides annual averages of the 12 components of ICRG's Political Risk Ratings (Table 3B), as published in the International Country Risk Guide since 1984. Average ratings are provided for all countries covered by ICRG from 1984 through the last full calendar year. Researchers looking for an open access alternative should try the Quality of Government (QoG) Institute dataset, which includes ICRG variables ’Corruption’, ’Law and Order’ and ’Bureaucracy Quality’.
International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events (ITERATE), 1968 - [most recent]
The ITERATE project is an attempt to quantify data on the characteristics of transnational terrorist groups, their activities which have international impact, and the environment in which they operate.

Military Intervention Project (MIP) dataset
The Military Intervention Project (MIP) within the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) seeks to solve the puzzle of US foreign military interventions. It is building a new, comprehensive dataset of all US military interventions from 1776 until 2017 to measure the costs, benefits, and unintended consequences of US military involvements abroad.
Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) - Data
- Journal of Peace Research Replication Data
- Replication Data
- PRIO-GRID
- Data on Armed Conflict
- Small Arms Trade Database
- Mapping Arms Data
- Geographical and Resource Datasets
- Data on Governance
- Economic and Socio-Demographic Data
- ACDC Bibliography
SIPRI Databases
Facts on international relations and security trends
SIPRI multilateral peace operations database
SIPRI military expenditure database
SIPRI arms transfers database
SIPRI arms embargoes database
SIPRI national reports database
Status of World Nuclear Forces
Frequently updated estimates from the Federation of American Scientists.
Transparency International research
Corruption Perceptions Index
Global Corruption Barometer
Bribe Payers Index

Reference Works

The Military Balance by The International The International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS)
ISBN: 9781857437669

TRAC: Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium
TRAC provides detailed profiles of terrorist groups and vulnerable regions. Also includes articles on ideologies, targets, tactics, and current chatter.

Resort to War: a data guide to inter-state, extra-state, intra-state, and non-state wars, 1816-2007 by Frank Wayman; Meredieth Reid Sarkees
ISBN: 9780872894341
Publication Date: 2010-02-16
Handbook of International Rivalries: 1494-2010 by William R. Thompson; David Dreyer
ISBN: 9780872894877
Publication Date: 2011-09-02
International Military Alliances, 1648-2008 by Douglas M. Gibler; University of Alabama Staff
ISBN: 1568028245
Publication Date: 2008-10-15
Separatist Movements by Brian Beary
ISBN: 9781604265699
Publication Date: 2011-02-17

Small Arms Survey
The Small Arms Survey is a global centre of excellence whose mandate is to generate evidence-based, impartial, and policy-relevant knowledge on all aspects of small arms and armed violence.

SIPRI Yearbook by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Staff
Call Number: Reference, Geisel Floor2 West UA10 .S5 Most recent years available from Oxford University Press. Archive available from SIPRI.
ISBN: 9780198712596
Mercenaries: a guide to private armies and private military companies by Alan Axelrod (Editor)
ISBN: 1608712486
Publication Date: 2014-01-09
Warfare and Armed Conflicts by Micheal Clodfelter
ISBN: 9780786474707
Publication Date: 2017-05-09

Index of U.S. Military Strength - Heritage Foundation
Annual assessment of U.S. Military Strength, including appendix with statistics on the current state of its combat equipment.