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Decision-Making in the United Nations General Assembly: A Comprehensive Database of Resolutions, Decisions, and Votes

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Abstract

Existing databases for UNGA voting (e.g., Bailey et al. 2017) provide excellent coverage of United Nations General Assembly voting on resolutions that were adopted by roll call vote. These databases, however, have some known limitations: They were built on historical dataset (e.g., the ICPSR dataset) that have varying coverage and definitions. They do not cover resolutions adopted by consensus. They do not consistently cover votes on draft resolutions that failed, i.e., votes on resolutions that were not adopted, or votes leading up to consideration by the UNGA. In this paper, we present an updated dataset that attempts to expand and improve the consistency of the UNGA decisions covered. We provide some comparisons of our database with other UNGA datasets, as well as explore the implications of more complete data for existing and future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua Fjelstul & Simon Hug & Christopher Kilby, 2022. "Decision-Making in the United Nations General Assembly: A Comprehensive Database of Resolutions, Decisions, and Votes," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 56, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
    • Handle: RePEc:vil:papers:56
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    United Nations General Assembly; roll call voting;

    JEL classification:

    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

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