The Constitutional Asylum (COAS) Dataset

The Constitutional Asylum Dataset Codebook and description of microdata ! ! ! Frowin Rausis, University of Geneva Marco Di Giuseppe, University of Lucerne 1 December 2025 Impressum Concept(and(production( Frowin'Rausis,'University'of'Geneva' Production(Date( 1'December'2025 The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset! i Table of Contents ! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset!............................................................................!1! File!Description!................................................................................................................................!4! Variable!Groups!...............................................................................................................................!5! Variable!List!......................................................................................................................................!7! Alphabetic!List!..................................................................................................................................!8! Variables!Description!....................................................................................................................!9! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset! 1 The Constitutional Asylum (COAS) Dataset ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!dataset!provides!global!panel!data!on!the!adoption!and!substance! of!asylum!provisions!in!national!constitutions!across!all!193!UN!member!states!from!1789!to!2023.! The!dataset!offers!systematic!and!detailed!information!on!the!main!characteristics,!the!legal!nature,! the!types!of!provisions,!and!the!protection!grounds.!It!supports!both!qualitative!and!quantitative! research!on!historical!and!cross-national!variation!in!the!legal!codification!of!refugee!protection.! ! Version!of!the!microdata! 1.0! ! State!of!data! ! 1!December!2025! ! DOI!dataset! https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17661979! Basic information Scope dataset Topic! Constitutional!asylum! ! Unit!of!analysis! Country-year!observations! ! Geographical!coverage! Global! ! Universe! 193!countries,!all!UN!member!states!as!of!January!2025! ! Years! 1789-2023! Data characteristics Type!of!dataset! Panel!dataset;!country-level!observations! ! Type!of!data! Mostly!binary!data! ! Number!of!country-year!observations! Number!of!countries!x!years!=!193!x!235!=!45’355!country-year!observations!! ! Number!of!single!data!points! Number!of!countries!x!years!x!variables!=!193!x!235!x!49!=!2’222’395!single!data!points! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset! 2 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Data collection Data!collection!mode! Online!data!collection!! ! Data!collection!dates! October!2023!–!May!2024;!April!2025!–!May!2025! ! Data!collectors! Marco!Di!Giuseppe,!University!of!Lucerne! Frowin!Rausis,!University!of!Geneva! ! Data!editing! Frowin!Rausis,!University!of!Geneva! ! Main!sources!constitutions! World!Constitutions!Illustrated!by!HeinOnline! <https://heinonline.org/HOL/COW?collection=cow&show_letter=all>! Oxford!Constitutions!of!the!World!(OCW)!by!Oxford!Constitutional!Law!! <https://oxcon.ouplaw.com/home/ocw>! ! Data!collection!process! The!structure!and!variable!selection!of!the!COAS!dataset!were!guided!by!an!extensive!review!of!the! secondary!literature!on!constitutional!asylum,!complemented!by!close!analysis!of!primary!sources.! The!variable!groups!and!variable!selection!were!developed!through!an!iterative!process!designed!to! incorporate!established!categorizations!where!appropriate!and!to!ensure!comprehensive!coverage! of!all!grounds!cited!in!asylum!provisions.!To!refine!and!validate!the!coding!scheme,!a!pre-test!was! conducted! in! September! 2023,! using! data! from! a! sample! of! twelve! countries! selected! to! reflect! diverse!geographic!regions!and!regime!types.!Based!on!the!pre-test,!the!final!list!of!variables!was! established,!with!the!variable!descriptions!in!the!codebook!that!guided!coding!decisions!clarified,!and! the!coding!process!streamlined.!The!‘World!Constitutions!Illustrated’!data!collection!of!HeinOnline! was!prioritized!as!the!primary!source.!From!October!2023!to!May!2024,!both!coders!coded!in!equal! parts!all!country-year!observations!for!1789!to!2022,!based!on!the!information!in!the!codebook.! While!most!coding!decisions!were!straightforward,!any!ambiguous!cases!were!jointly!discussed!and! resolved!to!align!with!the!variable!definitions!specified!in!the!codebook.!The!final!stage!of!the!process! involved!coding!the!year!2023!and!conducting!systematic!data!cleaning!and!editing!by!the!first!author! in!April!and!May!2025.! ! Inter-coder!reliability! To!ensure!a!high!level!of!inter-coder!reliability,!the!coders!collaboratively!developed!the!variable! descriptions! and! systematically! applied! them! during! the! coding! process.! Ambiguous! cases! were! jointly! discussed! and! resolved! to! ensure! consistency! with! the! established! variable! definitions.! Nonetheless,!an!inter-coder!reliability!test!was!conducted!in!June!2025,!based!on!a!random!sample! of!500!country-year!observations.!This!represents!slightly!more!than!1%!of!the!full!dataset,!which!is! generally! considered! an! acceptable! standard! for! large-scale! historical-legal! datasets.! First,! ten! countries! were!randomly! selected,! covering! different! regions! and! regime! types,! and! then! fifty! country-year!observations!per!country!were! drawn,!resulting!in!a!total!of!500!observations.!The! sample! included! only! country-year! cases! in! which! the! respective! country! had! an! adopted! constitution,! and! eight! of! the! ten! selected! countries! had! constitutional! asylum! provisions.! This! ensured!that!the!reliability!test!captured!a!diversity!of!constitutional!traditions!and!levels!of!legal! complexity,! while! also! making! the! achievement! of! a! high! inter-coder! agreement! rate! maximally! demanding.!The!test!demonstrated!an!inter-coder!agreement!rate!of!98.26%.! ! Note! If!you!see!any!inaccuracies!in!the!underlying!data!or!want!to!provide!feedback,!please!contact! Frowin!Rausis! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset! 3 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Accessibility and contact Disclaimer and rights Citation codebook and dataset Access!authority! Frowin!Rausis,!University!of!Geneva! ! Access!conditions! The!dataset!is!publicly!accessible!via!Creative!Commons!Attribution!4.0!International!via!the! repository!Zenodo! ! Contact! Frowin!Rausis,!University!of!Geneva,![email protected]! Disclaimer! The!user!of!the!data!acknowledges!that!the!original!collectors!of!the!data,!the!authorized!distributor!of! the! data,! and! the! relevant! funding! agency! bear! no! responsibility! for! the! use! of! the! data! or! for! interpretations!or!inferences!based!upon!such!uses.!! ! Rights! Creative!Commons!Attribution!4.0!International! Citation!codebook! Rausis,!F.,!&!Di!Giuseppe,!M.!(2025).!The$Constitutional$Asylum$(COAS)$Dataset:$Codebook$and$ Description$of$Microdata![Codebook].!Zenodo.!https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17661979! ! Citation!dataset! Rausis,!F.,!&!Di!Giuseppe,!M.!(2025).!The$Constitutional$Asylum$(COAS)$Dataset!(Version!1.0)![Data! set].!Zenodo.!https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17661979! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset! 4 File Description ! The!COAS!dataset!contains!1!file!with!2!sheets! ! File!content! Sheet!1!contains!panel!data!(year-country!observations)!of!all!193!UN!member!states!that!are!structured!in! five! variable! groups.! Group! 1! contains! general! information! on! the! countries! such! as! the! geographical! location,!the!regime!type,!or!the!adoption!of!a!National!Asylum!Framework!in!a!particular!year.!Group!2! features!general!information!on!the!existence!and!characteristics!of!constitutional!asylum,!for!example,! distinguishing!the!individual!right!for!asylum!versus!the!governmental!power!of!granting!protection,!or!the! inclusion! of! the! non-refoulement! principle.! Group! 3! distinguishes! four! legal! natures!of! constitutional! asylum,!namely!a!codification!as!a!positive!right,!a!qualitative!right,!a!negative!right,!or!a!discretionary! power.!Group!4!distinguishes!different!types!of!constitutional!asylum,!namely!the!type!exclusively!limited! to! political! asylum,! asylum! based! on! socialist! ideology,! asylum! that! is! based! on! the! 1951! Refugee! Convention,!and!other!types!of!constitutional!asylum.!Group!5!lists!different!grounds!of!asylum,!for!example,! whether!asylum!is!granted!for!political!activity,!fight!for!socialism,!or!consequences!of!climate!change.!Sheet! 2!contains!the!year,!paragraph,!and!text!of!the!constitutional!asylum!in!the!constitutions!of!the!UN!member! states!between!1789!and!2023.! ! Cases! 193!countries! ! Variables! 49! ! Producer!dataset! Frowin!Rausis,!University!of!Geneva! Marco!Di!Giuseppe,!University!of!Lucerne! ! Version!microdata! 1.0! ! Binary!variables! The!binary!variables!have!the!following!values!and!meaning:! 0!=!No! 1!=!Yes! ! Missing!data! 8888!=!not!applicable!because!state!was!not!founded!or!independent!in!the!respective!year! 9999!=!not!applicable!because!state!had!no!constitution!in!the!respective!year! NA!=!data/constitution!was!not!accessible!at!the!time!of!coding! ! Main!sources!for!year!of!establishment!or!independence!of!states! The!World!Factbook!by!Central!Intelligence!Agency!(CIA),!edition!of!29!May!2025,!Country!Factsheets! <https://cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries>! State!System!Membership!dataset!(v2016)!by!Correlates!of!War,!released!2017,!variable!StYear! <https://correlatesofwar.org/data-sets/state-system-membership>! ! Sheet!1!and!2! Spreadsheet!1:!containing!one!line!per!country-year!and!information!on!the!49!variables! Spreadsheet!2:!containing!one!line!per!country!and!featuring!the!year,!paragraph,!and!text!of!the! constitutions! ! Note! Subsequent!versions!of!the!COAS!dataset!can!deviate!from!the!codebook! ! ! ! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset! 5 Variable Groups ! The!COAS!dataset!contains!5!variable!groups! Group!1:!General!country!information! Name! Label! Page! country! Country!name! 9! year! Year!of!observation! 9! cod_alp3! Country!code!ISO!3166-alpha-3! 9! cod_alp2! Country!code!ISO!3166-alpha-2! 9! reg_world! World!region! 9! sub_region! Sub-region! 9! int_region! Intermediary!region! 9! rty_vdem! Regime!type!V-Dem! 9! naf_adop! Adoption!National!Asylum!Framework! 9! ! Group!2:!Constitutional!asylum! Name! Label! Page! con_adop! Adoption!constitution! 9! con_ind! Individual!right!to!(seek)!asylum! 9! con_gov! Governmental!power!to!grant!asylum! 10! con_refoul! Non-refoulement!principle! 10! con_lawref! Reference!domestic!asylum!legislation! 10! con_right! Constitutional!right!to!(seek)!asylum! 10! con_nomis! No!missing!values! 10! ! Group!3:!Legal!nature!constitutional!asylum! Name! Label! Page! rig_pos! Positive!right! 10! rig_qual! Qualitative!right! 10! rig_neg! Negative!right! 10! rig_disc! Discretionary!power! 10! ! Group!4:!Type!constitutional!asylum! Name! Label! Page! typ_polre! Type!political!asylum! 10! typ_social! Type!socialist!asylum! 10! typ_1951! Type!1951!Refugee!Convention! 10! typ_other! Type!other! 11! ! Group!5:!Grounds!for!protection! Name! Label! Page! gro_specif! Grounds!for!asylum!specified! 11! gro_pol! Political!activity! 11! gro_race! Race!or!ethnicity! 11! gro_rel! Religion! 11! gro_nat! Nationality! 11! gro_group! Social!group! 11! gro_ideol! Ideology! 11! gro_demo! Fight!for!democracy! 11! gro_social! Fight!for!socialism! 11! gro_peace! Fight!for!peace! 11! gro_lib! Fight!for!liberation! 11! gro_revol! Fight!for!revolution! 12! gro_work! Fight!for!working!class! 12! gro_hright! Fight!for!human!rights! 12! gro_scient! Scientific!activity! ! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset! 6 gro_art! Artistic!or!cultural!activity! 12! gro_colon! Colonialism! 12! gro_imp! Imperialism! 12! gro_langu! Language! 12! gro_gender! Gender! 12! gro_sexid! Sexual!identity! 12! gro_pov! Poverty! 12! gro_heal! Health! 12! gro_war! War! 13! gro_climat! Climate!! 13! ! ' ! ! The!Constitutional!Asylum!(COAS)!Dataset! 13 48! gro_war! War$ ! Data!type! Numerical! ! Format! Binary! ! Definition! Specifies!whether!war!or!a!situation!of!general!violence!in!the!country!of!origin!or! former!residence!is!listed!as!ground!for!granting!protection! ! 49! gro_climat! Climate$$ ! Data!type! Numerical! ! Format! Binary! ! Definition! Specifies!whether!consequences!of!climate!change!in!the!country!of!origin!or!former! residence!is!listed!as!ground!for!granting!protection! ! '