# Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) Dataset as a Gemini Notebook source

> Democracy indices for 200+ countries stretching back to 1789. The codebook and country reports are the pieces worth importing alongside the data.


_Markdown version of https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/varieties-of-democracy-v-dem-dataset — for AI and LLM crawlers. Content is identical to the web page._

---
- Site: [v-dem.net](https://www.v-dem.net)
- Category: Psychology & social science
- Access: free

Democracy indices for 200+ countries stretching back to 1789. The codebook and country reports are the pieces worth importing alongside the data.

With democracy indices for over 200 countries running back to 1789, this fits questions about how a country's institutions have changed over long stretches of time — judicial independence or press freedom, say, rather than just a headline democracy score. The codebook matters as much as the data, documenting exactly how country experts coded each measure, and is worth importing alongside any numbers used. Because the indices rely on expert coding rather than a hard count, checking the codebook's definition before treating a score as a plain fact is worthwhile.

## Import into Gemini Notebook

1. Copy the link: https://www.v-dem.net
2. In your notebook, click Add source → Website.
3. Paste the link and confirm — several links can be pasted at once, one per line.

**Tip:** Survey and study sites often gate the raw dataset — the summary report or working-paper PDF is what actually imports as a source.

## More psychology & social science sources

- [Afrobarometer](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/afrobarometer.md) — Repeated public-opinion surveys across African countries on democracy and governance. Its briefing papers and summary PDFs make solid grounded sources.
- [APA PsycNet](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/apa-psycnet.md) — The APA's database of psychology journals and books. Abstracts are open; full text usually needs institutional access before you can import a PDF.
- [CHILDES (Child Language Data Exchange System)](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/childes-child-language-data-exchange-system.md) — Transcripts and recordings of child-caregiver speech used in language-acquisition research. Transcript files upload as plain-text sources.
- [ERIC](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/eric.md) — The US Department of Education's index of over a million education studies. Many records include free full-text PDFs you can upload directly.
- [European Social Survey](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/european-social-survey.md) — Two decades of cross-national survey data on European attitudes and values. Topline reports and questionnaires make good grounded sources; data is free.
- [Gallup](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/gallup.md) — Long-running opinion polls and workplace research. Many topline articles are free and import as Website sources; detailed reports are paid.
- [ICPSR](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/icpsr.md) — University of Michigan archive of social science studies with rich codebooks. Import the codebook and methodology PDFs; datasets need a free account.
- [Journal of Open Psychology Data](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/journal-of-open-psychology-data.md) — Publishes peer-reviewed data papers describing reusable psychology datasets. Each paper documents collection methods — good methodological grounding.
- [Latinobarómetro](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/latinobar-metro.md) — Yearly surveys of political attitudes across Latin America since 1995. Annual report PDFs are free and summarize findings country by country.
- [OECD PISA Databases](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/oecd-pisa-databases.md) — Raw survey data behind the international student assessment rankings. The country reports and technical PDFs are the most notebook-friendly entry point.
- [Ofcom – Online Nation](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/ofcom-online-nation.md) — The UK regulator's yearly study of online behaviour — social, video, and creator platforms. Report PDFs are strong evidence sources on digital media use.
- [Pew Research Center](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/pew-research-center.md) — Survey research on US public opinion, demographics and tech use. Report pages and downloadable topline PDFs both make solid grounded sources.
- [World Values Survey](https://gemini-notebook-hub.online/sources/world-values-survey.md) — Decades of comparable survey data on beliefs and values in nearly 100 countries. Questionnaires and findings reports make strong social-science sources.