The Comparative Constitutions Project executive power index ranges from 0-7 and captures the presence of seven important aspects of executive lawmaking such as the power to initiate legislation and the power to declare states of emergency. For instance, a constitution with gives the executive four of these powers will score 4 on the index. Similarly, the legislative power index captures the degree of power assigned to the legislature. This is estimated through an average score of 32 binary measures of legislative power with higher values indicating greater legislative power. Finally, judicial independence is captured through an index of six features that enhance judicial independence which include whether the constitutions provides judges with lifetime appointments or whether appointments involve a judicial council. Again higher scores indicate greater judicial independence.