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Defining martial law: Introducing the EmPower dataset

Ag Stewart

Conflict Management and Peace Science2026https://doi.org/10.1177/07388942251410770article
ABDC B
Weight
0.50

Abstract

Martial law is widely used by governments around the world and yet remains poorly understood. In this article, I aim to expand what we know about the concept of martial law, within the context of the broader literature on emergency powers. This article begins by offering an academic definition of martial law as well as a measurement strategy, generating cross-national, time-series data. This article introduces a novel dataset that records declarations of martial law and states of emergency from 1995 to 2022. I illustrate the utility of this data by showing it can complement research on government repression and overreach.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/07388942251410770

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@article{ag2026,
  title        = {{Defining martial law: Introducing the EmPower dataset}},
  author       = {Ag Stewart},
  journal      = {Conflict Management and Peace Science},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/07388942251410770},
}

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Defining martial law: Introducing the EmPower dataset

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.