Freedom as capability: how the capability approach can improve our understanding of freedom in established democracies

© 2017 Dr. Jeremiah Thomas BrownAnnual measures of democracy are one of the most important tools used by scholars in understanding democratic quality in a cross-national manner. This thesis argues that there are limitations with existing measures of democracy, and presents a new measure of democracy which employs a more expansive definition of freedom: freedom as capability. A central component of measures of democracy is the definition of freedom which they employ, as this heavily influences the way that a measure with the concept of democracy. Different definitions of freedom are tied to different models of human agency, placing different demands on what is required for individuals to be able to function freely as democratic citizens. Considering the closeness of the relationship between freedom and democracy in democratic theory, this is an important issue for measurement to address. Identifying the degree to which this influences contemporary understandings of democratic quality, this thesis examines the way that the concept of freedom is incorporated into existing measures of democracy. It finds that the definition of freedom which is most commonly employed in measures of democracy is the definition of freedom as non-interference. This is problematic since freedom as non-interference is poorly suited to identifying the current problems arising in established democracies, especially those associated with growing inequality. It is argued that freedom as capability, a definition of freedom developed through the capability approach, is a definition of freedom which can provide further insight on the quality of democracy in established democracies, because it identifies different types of constraints which individuals face when engaging with the political process. The new measure of democracy created employs the definition of freedom as capability to demonstrate how measures can be developed which are more sensitive to problems being encountered in established democracies. The measure emphasises problems associated with economic, educational, and health inequalities, as these can represent constraints which limit the freedom of citizens to engage in the political process. In doing so, the thesis presents a measure of democracy which is better equipped to identify meaningful differences in the quality of democracy in established democratic societies. The output of the new measure of democracy is compared to other popular measures of democracy to demonstrate that theoretical differences in conceptualising democracy translate into real differences in measurement output