Define the liberty indicator. Give some examples of liberty indicators.
Liberty indicators are additional measures that need to be included alongside traditional human development indicators to make a more complete assessment of human development. These indicators are extremely important but are not sufficient on their own, and without them, the construction of a human development index may be said to be incomplete and its usefulness limited.
Some examples of liberty indicators include: (1) the extent of democratic participation in social and political decision-making, which has been added as a measure but not given any extra weight; (2) measures of the extent of Constitutional protection given to rights of citizens; and (3) the extent of constitutional protection of the Independence of the Judiciary and the Rule of Law. These indicators should be given overriding importance in the list of human development indicators.
Explanation
The textbook explains that while human development indicators are important, they are not sufficient. Liberty indicators are needed to measure freedoms and rights. The text specifically mentions three examples: democratic participation in decision-making, constitutional protection of citizens' rights, and constitutional protection of judiciary independence and rule of law. The context emphasizes that without these indicators, the HDI remains incomplete.