Understanding PA X Codes

The Peace Agreements Database (PA-X) assigns codes to each peace agreement based on the places, conflicts, and topics that the agreement addresses. Certain codes have numerical values that indicate the level of detail at which an agreement addresses that code.

Codes listed below are excerpts from the PA-X Codebook that are relevant to the Visualizing Peace project.

For the complete PA-X Codebook please visit www.peaceagreements.org

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Con: Country/Entity
Where the conflict originated, has territorial element, or relates to At the top of the webpage, the horizontal timeline and map offer a way to study the chronology and geography of peace agreements simultaneously. At the bottom of the webpage, the vertical timelines offer a way to compare the sequence of peace agreements in different countries.
Appears in "Agreement Details" of visualization's left sidebar for "Agreements in Time and Space" and "Agreements Comparison"

AgtId: Agreement ID
Unique identifier for agreement document, a number
Used to determine which agreement details to display based on where a user hovers or clicks a visualization

Agt: Agreement Name
Name as appears in the agreement document, popular names may be included in parentheses
Appears in "Agreement Details" of visualization's left sidebar for "Agreements in Time and Space" and "Agreements Comparison"

Dat: Date Signed
Date agreement signed/agreed to
In cases of date periods/ranges in databases, last date considered Dat, format is YYYY-MM-DD Appears in "Agreement Details" of visualization's left sidebar for "Agreements in Time and Space" and "Agreements Comparison"

Agtp: Agreement type
Character variable for nature of agreement & conflict, 3 possibilities are...
(1) Inter – interstate treaty & conflict (international – example: Iraq/Kuwait, North/South Korea)
(2) InterIntra – interstate agreement about intrastate conflict(s) in existing (de-facto or legal) borders, parties include states or international actors
(3) Intra – intrastate agreement about intrastate conflict, conflict mainly within single state’s borders, may be +1 state party, not pure interstate agreements & have international parties
Appears in "Agreement Details" of visualization's left sidebar for "Agreements in Time and Space" and "Agreements Comparison"

Stage: Agreement stage
Character variable for peace process stage during which agreement signed, 8 possibilities are...
(1) Pre: pre-negotiation – about getting parties to negotiation, “talking about how they are going to talk”
(2) SubPar: framework-substantive, partial – concern parties discussing & agreeing to substantive issues to resolve conflict without addressing all of them (implies future agreements will be needed)
(3) SubComp: framework-substantive, comprehensive – concern parties discussing & agreeing to substantive issues to completely resolve conflict
(4) FrCons: constitution – document that operates as a comprehensive interim or final constitution in name or function
(5) Imp: Implementation/renegotiation – aims to implement an earlier agreement, excludes ceasefires
(6) Ren: Renewal – ~1 page agreements to renew past commitments, excludes ceasefire renewals
(7) Cea: Ceasefire/related – agreements entirely providing for a ceasefire or association demobilization, or purely providing for a monitoring arrangement for or extension of a ceasefire
(8) Other – all agreements that don’t fit previously listed categories
Colors of agreements in "Agreements Comparison" timelines are based on the agreements' stages

HrFra: Human Rights Framework
Any provisions aiming to establish a human rights framework to guide the post-conflict period (e.g. bill of rights, incorporation of human rights standards)
0 indicates unaddressed, 1 indicates rhetorical provisions or mention, 2 indicates substantive provisions, 3 indicates detailed provisions indicating commitment Appears in visualization's left sidebar as a filter and petal in agreements' symbols (flowers) for "Agreements in Time and Space", and as a filter in the "Select Codes" dropdown for "Agreements Comparison"

Eps: Economic Power sharing
Joint participation in economic institutions or territorial fiscal federalism
0 indicates not addressed, 1 indicates mention without details, 2 indicates some details on modalities or implementation, 3 indicates many details on modalities or implementation
Appears in visualization's left sidebar as a filter and petal in agreements' symbols (flowers) for "Agreements in Time and Space", and as a filter in the "Select Codes" dropdown for "Agreements Comparison"

Mps: Military Power sharing
Share power with police, army, security ministries
0 indicates not addressed; 1 indicates mention without details; 2 indicates some details on modalities or implementation, 3 indicates many details on modalities or implementation
Appears in visualization's left sidebar as a filter and petal in agreements' symbols (flowers) for "Agreements in Time and Space", and as a filter in the "Select Codes" dropdown for "Agreements Comparison"

Pol: Political Institutions (new or reformed)
Any mention of mechanisms reforming or establishing new political institutions (for example: legislature, executive), including interim administration or new democratic institutions
0 indicates unaddressed; 1, 2, 3 indicates addressed (increasing specificity as value increases)
Appears in visualization's left sidebar as a filter and petal in agreements' symbols (flowers) for "Agreements in Time and Space", and as a filter in the "Select Codes" dropdown for "Agreements Comparison"

Polps: Political Power sharing
Establish executive grand coalition, proportional legislative representation, mutual veto/weighted majorities in areas of group ‘vital interest,’ segmental autonomy (e.g. “sport,” “education”), involvement of international actors
0 indicates not addressed, 1 indicates mention without details, 2 indicates details without indication of how/when will be implemented, 3 indicates details about institutional arrangements
Appears in visualization's left sidebar as a filter and petal in agreements' symbols (flowers) for "Agreements in Time and Space", and as a filter in the "Select Codes" dropdown for "Agreements Comparison"

Terps: Territorial Power sharing
Divide power by territories
0 indicates not addressed; 1 indicates mention without details; 2 indicates some details on implementation; 3 indicates many details on power sharing, modalities & timelines
Appears in visualization's left sidebar as a filter and petal in agreements' symbols (flowers) for "Agreements in Time and Space", and as a filter in the "Select Codes" dropdown for "Agreements Comparison"

TjMech: Transitional Justice Past Mechanism
Calls or provides for a body other than one specifically tailored to other categories of some sort to ‘deal with the past’ (for example, regional conservatories, Truth and Reconciliation Commissions)
0 indicates unaddressed; 1, 2, 3, indicates addressed (increasing specificity as value increases)
Appears in visualization's left sidebar as a filter and petal in agreements' symbols (flowers) for "Agreements in Time and Space", and as a filter in the "Select Codes" dropdown for "Agreements Comparison"

GeWom: Women, girls and gender
Women, girls and gender topics are women, women’s inclusion, women’s rights; references to girls, widows, mothers, sexual violence, gender violence, UNSCR 1325 (UN resolution affirming importance of women in peacekeeping), CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women - UN adopted 1979), lactating women
Binary variable – 0 indicates topic not addressed, 1 indicates topic addressed
Appears in visualization's left sidebar as a filter and petal in agreements' symbols (flowers) for "Agreements in Time and Space," and as a filter in the "Select Codes" dropdown for "Agreements Comparison"