The scope of a regime concept is all state-years, including zero-membership cases.

Evidence

It is quite common to propose a typology of S, e.g., a typology of autocratic regimes or of mental disorders. The Scope Guideline (chapter 3) requires that one give the population or scope of cases to which the concept can be applied. The terminology “typology of” suggests that S is the scope. This can be both problematic and misleading. The scope of concepts such as autocracy, military regime, or democracy is all state-years. Of course, there might be many state-years that have zero membership of the concept type: the key point is that they are codable. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 1204

Categorization

• DEFINE: Draws the crucial line between a concept’s scope and its subtypes: ‘typology of autocracy’ names the subtypes, not the population being coded.
• SEED: The zero-membership-but-codable point is a good hook for a piece on how quietly the denominator of any classification gets chosen.