One way political scientists categorize measurements of democratic health is through consideration of how “thick” or “thin” a project conceptualizes democracy (Coppedge, 1999; Møller and Skaaning, 2010). Thick conceptions of democracy typically look at democracy as a state of being, incorporating measures of civil and political rights, as well as economic freedom. The CIVICUS Monitor provides a paradigmatic example of a thick scorecard, tracking freedom of association, expression, and assembly, alongside the institutions that protect those freedoms (CIVICUS, 2021). By contrast, thinner measurements of democracy focus more narrowly on the health of political institutions.
Our project’s focus, which is particularly thin, has its roots in political theorist Robert Dahl’s concept of intrinsic equality. He explains that the case for democracy stems from the “moral judgment that all human beings are of equal intrinsic worth” and therefore that “the interests of each person must be given equal consideration” (Dahl, 2006, p. 4). If we believe in intrinsic equality, then a representative democracy must promote inclusive citizenship, one of Dahl’s six essential institutions for a large-scale democracy (Dahl, 1998). When citizens are denied the opportunity to participate in democracy, those citizens cannot expect their interests to be “adequately protected and advanced by those who govern” (Dahl, 1998, p. 77). In other words, a democracy without inclusive citizenship is not a democracy at all. By focusing narrowly on equality in voter participation, we assess Dahl’s concept of inclusive citizenship and attempt to gain an understanding of the state-level policies having the greatest impact on each citizen’s ability to be heard at the ballot box.
