About SNARP

Levels of state repression and the frequency, severity, and targets of human rights abuses vary spatially within states. However, most previous studies on these topics have only considered repression in the aggregate. This is problematic because it ignores variation in institutional structures and decision-making processes within countries. We introduce a novel approach for measuring subnational levels of repression using machine learning and human coding techniques. We apply hand coding, dictionary-based approaches and supervised machine learning methods to extract and code physical integrity rights allegations from annual country human rights reports. We present preliminary descriptive statistics from a working georeferenced pilot version of the dataset for the period 1999-2016. We plan to continue to update this dataset.

SNARP in the News

• How Does the Trump Administration Think about Human Rights? Evidence from the State Department Country Reports
  Rebecca Cordell, K. Chad Clay, Christopher J. Fariss, Reed M. Wood, and Thorin Wright
  Political Violence @ a Glance (1 June 2018)

Manuscript Under Review

• Human Rights Reporting in Transition: Comparing US State Department Human Rights Reports Across Presidential Administrations
  Rebecca Cordell, K. Chad Clay, Christopher J. Fariss, Reed M. Wood, and Thorin Wright
  
  

Working Papers

• Recording Repression over Space and Time: Identifying Allegations in Annual Country Human Rights Reports
  Rebecca Cordell, K. Chad Clay, Christopher J. Fariss, Reed M. Wood, and Thorin Wright
  
  

Team Members

Rebecca Cordell
Rebecca.Cordell@asu.edu
Postdoctoral Scholar
Arizona State University


K. Chad Clay
kcclay@uga.edu
Associate Professor
University of Georgia


Christopher J. Fariss
cjfariss@umich.edu
Assistant Professor
University of Michigan

Reed M. Wood
Reed.Wood@asu.edu
Associate Professor
Arizona State University


Thorin Wright
thorin.wright@asu.edu
Associate Professor
Arizona State University

Funding Sources

• Collaborative NSF Award #1626775 (Arizona State University), #16267101 (University of Georgnia), and #1627464 (University of Michigan).