Democracy measures contradict the necessary-condition concept they claim to operationalize.

Evidence

However, when it comes to numeric measurement, almost no one follows through on the implications of this necessary condition conceptualization of democracy. In short, the measurement model is fundamentally inconsistent with the conceptual model. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 151

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: ‘The Democracy Index Doesn’t Measure Democracy’ — how Polity’s additive score betrays its own stated three necessary elements.
• XREF: Echoes the learned pattern of measuring ‘fair treatment’ and finding what the survey cannot capture — a mismatch between the concept and its instrument.