Zero’s meaning shifts silently when an interval scale gets dichotomized.

Evidence

For example, the original Polity concept of democracy probably had a real zero at 0 since − 10 to 0 was autocracy, while 0–10 was democracy. This then implicitly shifted with dichotomization rules whereby democracy was greater than (or sometimes equal to) 6. — Gary Goertz, Social Science Concepts and Measurement, 842

Categorization

• DEFINE: Concrete illustration of how a real zero on a ratio-ish scale is quietly abandoned once a cutoff rule redefines the concept.
• XREF: Connects to prior chapters’ discussion of concept structure and the democracy/autocracy measurement debates.