PITF Problem Set Annual Data
The Political Instability Task Force has compiled annual
information on each of four types of political instability events for
all countries with a total population of 500,000 or greater, covering
the period 1955 to 2007; these events include ethnic wars, revolutionary
wars, genocides and politicides, and adverse regime changes (transitions
to more open and democratic forms of governance are not considered instability
events). Case lists of each of these four event types are recorded in
separate Excel spreadsheets. Each annual record for each event includes
three measures of magnitude and a composite magnitude score (cases of
genocide and politicide have only a single measure of magnitude for
each annual record). For purposes of general instability analyses these
four event types are consolidated into periods of (complex) instability
when distinct instability events overlap in time or occur in sequence.
Sequential events are treated as a single episode if less than five
years elapsed between the end of one event and the start of the next
event.
The PITF is funded by the Central Intelligence Agency. The PITF
website is hosted by hosted by the Center for Global Policy at George
Mason University and is provided as a public service. The views expressed
herein are those of the Task Force and its individual members, and do
not represent the views of the University or the US Government.
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PITF Problem Set Codebook (PDF document) |
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PITF Consolidated Events List, 1955-2007
(Word document) |
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Ethnic
War Problem Set 2007 (Excel file)
Episodes of sustained violent conflict in which national, ethnic,
religious or other communal minorities challenge governments to
seek major changes in their status. Clashes between rival communal
groups are not considered ethnic war unless they involve conflict
over state power. |
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Revolutionary
War Problem Set 2007 (Excel file)
Episodes of sustained, violent conflict between governments and
politically organized challengers that seek to overthrow the central
government, to replace its leaders, or to seize power in one region. |
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Genocide
and Politicide Problem Set 2007 (Excel file)
Sustained policies by states or their agents--or, in civil wars,
by either of the contending authorities--that result in the deaths
of a substantial portion of a communal or political group. In genocides,
the victimized groups are defined primarily by their communal (i.e.,
ethno-linguistic or religious) characteristics. In politicides,
victims are defined primarily in terms of their political opposition
to the regime or dominant groups. |
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Adverse
Regime Change Problem Set 2007 (Excel file)
Major, adverse shifts in patterns of governance, including
- total or near-total collapse of central state
authority,
- revolutionary change in political elites and
the mode of governance,
- contested dissolution of federated states or
secession of a substantial area of a state by extrajudicial
means; and
- substantial shifts away from democratic toward
authoritarian rule (defined by a six point or greater decrease
in Polity score).
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