The Political Constraint Index (POLCON), University of Pennsylvania
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Summary
The POLCON measure, developed by Vice Dean and Faculty Director of the ESG Initiative Witold Henisz, is a quantitative measure of institutional constraints that uses a spatial model of political interaction and measures the feasibility of a change in policy given the structure of a nation’s political institutions.
Tables In IFs
| Variable | Definition | Last IFs Update | UsedInPreprocessor |
|---|---|---|---|
| GovPolConstraintsMain | Measure of the amount of constraints on a leader through vetoes | 2026/02/26 | 0 |
| GovPolConstraintsPlus | Measure of the amount of constraints on a leader through vetoes (also vetoes from the judiciary and sub-federal actors) | 2026/02/26 | 0 |
Data Pulling Instructions
- Navigate to https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/heniszpolcon/polcondataset/
- Click the most recent excel file (right now it is 2025 Data release (see Key Sheet for Variable Key including important updates to construction of veto point data)
- Use the indicator POLCONIII_2025 for GovPolConstraintsMain and POLCONV_2025 for GovPolConstraintsPlus.
Data Notes
- For country concordances only use "cnts_country" the other country columns are missing countries for certain rows.
- A repo for a script is here: https://github.com/n1shamin/POLCON
- There are countries that should be merged together such as:
| Country | cnts-country |
|---|---|
| Yemen | YEMEN |
| YEMEN AR | |
| YEMEN REP | |
| YEMEN PDR | |
| Viet Nam | VIETNAM REP |
| VIETNAM | |
| Ethiopia | ABYSSINIA |
| ETHIOPIA | |
| ETH'PIA PDR | |
| Cote D'Ivoire | COTE D'IVOR |
| IVORY COAST | |
| Congo | CONGO |
| CONGO (BRA) | |
| CONGO REP | |
| CONGO Republic |