Christopher J. Fariss Dataverse

I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan. Prior to beginning this appointment, I was the Jeffrey L. Hyde and Sharon D. Hyde and Political Science Board of Visitors Early Career Professor in Political Science in the Department of Political Science at Penn State University. In June 2013, I graduated with a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, San Diego. I also studied at the University of North Texas, where I graduated with an M.S. in political science (2007), a B.F.A in drawing and painting (2005), and a B.A. in political science (2005). My core research focuses on the politics and measurement of human rights, discrimination, violence, and repression. I use computational methods to understand why governments around the world torture, maim, and kill individuals within their jurisdiction and the processes monitors use to observe and document these abuses. Other projects cover a broad array of themes but share a focus on computationally intensive methods and research design. These methodological tools, essential for analyzing data at massive scale, open up new insights into the micro-foundations of state repression and the politics of measurement. Please visit my website for more information about my research.

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1 to 10 of 22 Results

Replication data for: Respect for Human Rights has Improved Over Time: Modeling the Changing Standard of Accountability May 7, 2023 - Human Rights Scores Dataverse Fariss, Christopher, 2014, "Replication data for: Respect for Human Rights has Improved Over Time: Modeling the Changing Standard of Accountability", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/25830, Harvard Dataverse, V3 According to indicators of political repression currently used by scholars, human rights practices have not improved over the past 35 years, despite the spread of human rights norms, better monitoring, and the increasing prevalence of electoral democracy. I argue that this empirical pattern is not an indication of stagnating human rights practices....
Fariss Course Syllabus Archive Dec 29, 2022 Fariss, Christopher, 2022, "Fariss Course Syllabus Archive", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/283OUN, Harvard Dataverse, V2 Archive of course syllabi from my classes.
Replication Data for: Producing Goods and Projecting Power: How What You Make Influences What You Take Jan 12, 2021 Jonathan Markowitz; R. Blake McMahon; Christopher Fariss, 2021, "Replication Data for: Producing Goods and Projecting Power: How What You Make Influences What You Take", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IXRGMP, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:X75Een7LhJozjEJ1HnpfUw== [fileUNF] How does a state’s source of wealth condition the domain in which it seeks to project influence? We argue that what a state makes conditions what they take. Specifically, the less states rely on land rents to acquire wealth, the less interested they will be in seeking control over territory and the more interested they will be in securing access to...
Estimating one-sided-killings from a Robust Measurement Model of Human Rights Jul 24, 2020 Fariss, Christopher; Michael Kenwick; Kevin Reuning, 2020, "Estimating one-sided-killings from a Robust Measurement Model of Human Rights", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/7C7KPU, Harvard Dataverse, V1 Counting repressive events is difficult because state leaders have an incentive to conceal actions of their subordinates and destroy evidence of abuse. In this paper, we extend existing latent variable modeling techniques in the study of repression to account for the uncertainty inherent in count data generated for this type of difficult-to-observe...
Yes, Human Rights Practices Are Improving Over Time Mar 1, 2019 Fariss, Christopher, 2019, "Yes, Human Rights Practices Are Improving Over Time", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EB8DD8, Harvard Dataverse, V1 To document human rights, monitoring organizations establish a standard of accountability, or a baseline set of expectations that states ought to meet in order to be considered respectful of human rights. If the standard of accountability has meaningfully changed then the categorized variables from human rights documents will mask real improvements...
Replication Data for: Are Things Really Getting Better?: How To Validate Latent Variable Models of Human Rights Jun 6, 2017 - British Journal of Political Science Dataverse Fariss, Christopher, 2017, "Replication Data for: Are Things Really Getting Better?: How To Validate Latent Variable Models of Human Rights", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/KWM3CY, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:CAH/CfpFOhd1Gjr9Z7JHSA== [fileUNF] Has respect for human rights improved? Answering this question requires valid comparisons of repression levels in many different states across time. Theoretically informed latent variable models of difficult-to-measure concepts such as human rights and treaty compliance tell a different empirical story of patterns of repression and reform than mode...
Replication Data for: Power, Proximity, and Democracy: Geopolitical Competition in the International System Mar 26, 2017 Markowitz, Jonathan; Fariss, Christopher, 2017, "Replication Data for: Power, Proximity, and Democracy: Geopolitical Competition in the International System", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/5QA9YS, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:Ds6C6qGNzETvb0HAno5PBA== [fileUNF] Why do only some powerful states project military power globally? To answer this question, we test the proposition that states choose to project military power when they face a competitive geopolitical environment. This proposition is derived from our theory, which is used to construct a new measure of the level of geopolitical competition that eve...
Human Rights Texts: Converting Human Rights Primary Source Documents into Data Nov 9, 2015 Christopher J. Fariss; Fridolin J. Linder; Zachary M. Jones; Charles D. Crabtree; Megan A. Biek; Ana-Sophia M. Ross; Taranamol Kaur; Michael Tsai, 2015, "Human Rights Texts: Converting Human Rights Primary Source Documents into Data", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IAH8OY, Harvard Dataverse, V3 Human rights reports and metadata
Uncovering Patterns Among Latent Variables: Human Rights and De Facto Judicial Independence Aug 14, 2015 - Research & Politics Dataverse Crabtree, Charles; Fariss, Christopher J., 2015, "Uncovering Patterns Among Latent Variables: Human Rights and De Facto Judicial Independence", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/LVYOKM, Harvard Dataverse, V3, UNF:6:tuEDrjAIaijYVl42g6/E/w== [fileUNF] In this paper, we reexamine the relationship between judicial independence and state respect for human rights by taking advantage of new latent measures of both constructs. In our analysis, we demonstrate a simple method for incorporating the uncertainty of these latent variables. Results provide strong support for theoretical and empirical claims...
Replication Data for: The Changing Standard of Accountability and the Positive Relationship between Human Rights Treaty Ratification and Compliance May 9, 2015 Fariss, Christopher, 2015, "Replication Data for: The Changing Standard of Accountability and the Positive Relationship between Human Rights Treaty Ratification and Compliance", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/TI77ZP, Harvard Dataverse, V2 Researchers have puzzled over the finding that countries that ratify UN human rights treaties such as the Convention Against Torture are more likely to abuse human rights than non-ratifiers over time. I present evidence that the changing standard of accountability --- the set of expectations that monitoring agencies use to hold states responsible f...

Replication data for: Respect for Human Rights has Improved Over Time: Modeling the Changing Standard of Accountability

May 7, 2023 - Human Rights Scores Dataverse

Fariss, Christopher, 2014, "Replication data for: Respect for Human Rights has Improved Over Time: Modeling the Changing Standard of Accountability", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/25830, Harvard Dataverse, V3

According to indicators of political repression currently used by scholars, human rights practices have not improved over the past 35 years, despite the spread of human rights norms, better monitoring, and the increasing prevalence of electoral democracy. I argue that this empirical pattern is not an indication of stagnating human rights practices....

Fariss Course Syllabus Archive

Dec 29, 2022

Fariss, Christopher, 2022, "Fariss Course Syllabus Archive", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/283OUN, Harvard Dataverse, V2

Archive of course syllabi from my classes.

Replication Data for: Producing Goods and Projecting Power: How What You Make Influences What You Take

Jan 12, 2021

Jonathan Markowitz; R. Blake McMahon; Christopher Fariss, 2021, "Replication Data for: Producing Goods and Projecting Power: How What You Make Influences What You Take", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IXRGMP, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:X75Een7LhJozjEJ1HnpfUw== [fileUNF]

How does a state’s source of wealth condition the domain in which it seeks to project influence? We argue that what a state makes conditions what they take. Specifically, the less states rely on land rents to acquire wealth, the less interested they will be in seeking control over territory and the more interested they will be in securing access to...

Estimating one-sided-killings from a Robust Measurement Model of Human Rights

Jul 24, 2020

Fariss, Christopher; Michael Kenwick; Kevin Reuning, 2020, "Estimating one-sided-killings from a Robust Measurement Model of Human Rights", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/7C7KPU, Harvard Dataverse, V1

Counting repressive events is difficult because state leaders have an incentive to conceal actions of their subordinates and destroy evidence of abuse. In this paper, we extend existing latent variable modeling techniques in the study of repression to account for the uncertainty inherent in count data generated for this type of difficult-to-observe...

Yes, Human Rights Practices Are Improving Over Time

Mar 1, 2019

Fariss, Christopher, 2019, "Yes, Human Rights Practices Are Improving Over Time", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EB8DD8, Harvard Dataverse, V1

To document human rights, monitoring organizations establish a standard of accountability, or a baseline set of expectations that states ought to meet in order to be considered respectful of human rights. If the standard of accountability has meaningfully changed then the categorized variables from human rights documents will mask real improvements...

Replication Data for: Are Things Really Getting Better?: How To Validate Latent Variable Models of Human Rights

Jun 6, 2017 - British Journal of Political Science Dataverse

Fariss, Christopher, 2017, "Replication Data for: Are Things Really Getting Better?: How To Validate Latent Variable Models of Human Rights", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/KWM3CY, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:CAH/CfpFOhd1Gjr9Z7JHSA== [fileUNF]

Has respect for human rights improved? Answering this question requires valid comparisons of repression levels in many different states across time. Theoretically informed latent variable models of difficult-to-measure concepts such as human rights and treaty compliance tell a different empirical story of patterns of repression and reform than mode...

Replication Data for: Power, Proximity, and Democracy: Geopolitical Competition in the International System

Mar 26, 2017

Markowitz, Jonathan; Fariss, Christopher, 2017, "Replication Data for: Power, Proximity, and Democracy: Geopolitical Competition in the International System", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/5QA9YS, Harvard Dataverse, V1, UNF:6:Ds6C6qGNzETvb0HAno5PBA== [fileUNF]

Why do only some powerful states project military power globally? To answer this question, we test the proposition that states choose to project military power when they face a competitive geopolitical environment. This proposition is derived from our theory, which is used to construct a new measure of the level of geopolitical competition that eve...

Human Rights Texts: Converting Human Rights Primary Source Documents into Data

Nov 9, 2015

Christopher J. Fariss; Fridolin J. Linder; Zachary M. Jones; Charles D. Crabtree; Megan A. Biek; Ana-Sophia M. Ross; Taranamol Kaur; Michael Tsai, 2015, "Human Rights Texts: Converting Human Rights Primary Source Documents into Data", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/IAH8OY, Harvard Dataverse, V3

Human rights reports and metadata

Uncovering Patterns Among Latent Variables: Human Rights and De Facto Judicial Independence

Aug 14, 2015 - Research & Politics Dataverse

Crabtree, Charles; Fariss, Christopher J., 2015, "Uncovering Patterns Among Latent Variables: Human Rights and De Facto Judicial Independence", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/LVYOKM, Harvard Dataverse, V3, UNF:6:tuEDrjAIaijYVl42g6/E/w== [fileUNF]

In this paper, we reexamine the relationship between judicial independence and state respect for human rights by taking advantage of new latent measures of both constructs. In our analysis, we demonstrate a simple method for incorporating the uncertainty of these latent variables. Results provide strong support for theoretical and empirical claims...

Replication Data for: The Changing Standard of Accountability and the Positive Relationship between Human Rights Treaty Ratification and Compliance

May 9, 2015

Fariss, Christopher, 2015, "Replication Data for: The Changing Standard of Accountability and the Positive Relationship between Human Rights Treaty Ratification and Compliance", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/TI77ZP, Harvard Dataverse, V2

Researchers have puzzled over the finding that countries that ratify UN human rights treaties such as the Convention Against Torture are more likely to abuse human rights than non-ratifiers over time. I present evidence that the changing standard of accountability --- the set of expectations that monitoring agencies use to hold states responsible f...

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