Event: United Nations Global Network Webinar: Democracy Dies in Darkness without Official Statistics
Date: Tuesday 25 June 2024
Time: 14:30 - 15:30
Venue: Online (see details below)
Join us for this Global Network Webinar with from the University of Malta who will talk about the topic “Democracy Dies in Darkness without Official Statisticsâ€
Tuesday 25 June 2024 14:30 - 15:30
Virtual through Teams (connection details at the end)
Is there a quantitative relationship between democracy and official statistics? How can a democratic country organise an election without official statistics?
In a world increasingly shaped by data, the importance of official statistics often remains in the shadows, even within NSOs. Yet, these statistics (like employment rates, gross domestic product, and pandemic data) are the lifeblood of democracy, influencing policymaking, media narratives, and electoral choices.
In his talk, Luca explores the vital nexus between official statistics and democracy and shows the quantitative relationship between political regime type and the capacity of national statistical systems.
A data exploratory analysis presents a strong correlation between democracy and official statistics in a subject normally treated from a qualitative point of view. His analysis demonstrates that on each continent, the most democratic country is also the one with the best statistical performance.
The National Statistics Offices are affected by institutional contexts. Luca employs two main indicators for this analysis: the Democracy Index by the Economist and the Statistical Performance Indicators (SPI) by the World Bank. The use of those indicators globally, encompassing an entire range of years and countries, is uncommon. His work not only underscores the global significance of official statistics but also aligns with the United Nations Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Registration is available .
The Speaker
Dr Luca Di Gennaro Splendore, is a Marie Curie Fellow, funded by the European Union, at Malta University. He is a former UNHCR and National Statistics Office Malta staffer. He was a Statistical Election Expert consultant for the EU and OSCE Election Observation Missions around the world: Kenya, Honduras, Kosovo, Tunisia, Nigeria, Peru, Angola, Paraguay, Armenia, Ukraine, and North Macedonia. Luca holds a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Bologna.
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