The Monopoly of Law is based on the premise that legal order, creation and application of law are de facto existent, without competing claims of legal orders or concurrent jurisdiction. The legal order, implementation and application of law are essential for the monopoly of law and find their expression in the subcomponents legislation and jurisdiction. The Monopoly of Law connects to the legality of authority as a definitive aspect of stateness that rests on the state´s legal claim to power and internal and external recognition as the legitimate supreme entity that exercises control over inhabitants and territory through formal institutions.
To avoid a democratic bias, the measurement is based on a minimalistic and positivistic definition of law that does not entail normative or substantial requirements for law to be law or to demand obedience. Law is state law as far as it is formal in its creation and promulgation.

(1) “Domestic autonomy” and (2) “International autonomy” measure if a state is autonomous from the control of other states with respect to the conduct of domestic and foreign policy. The indicator (3) “Judicial accountability” examines if judges are disciplined when they are found responsible of serious misconduct. The indicator (4) “Regime interregnum” identifies whether a state can implement laws enacted by an existent regime. Lastly, the indicator (5) “Legislature closed down or aborted” discloses temporary or sustained ruptures within the legislative process of the monopoly of law.

Method of Aggregation: Weighted multiplicative function, root.

The Monopoly of Violence reflects the state’s ability to uphold territorial sovereignty and the state´s resources/means to do so. The monopoly of violence as the state´s expression of “ultimate control” rests in its prerogative to use physical force for the maintenance of its order. The state monopolizes the exertion of physical violence through its organisations (police, military) and means of violence that control and prevent civil violence and enforce state decisions and policies to maintain domestic order.

(1) “State authority over territory” captures the hegemonic control of the state over its territory and control over political forces that reject its authority (percentage of territory controlled by the central state). (2) “Criteria for appointment decisions in the armed forces” and (3) “Remuneration in the Armed Forces” shed light on the quality of the armed forces through the acceptance of boundaries between public sphere and private sphere restrictions. In line with our concept of the state, recruitment and salary of the armed forces should be based on merit and qualifications.

Method of Aggregation: Weighted multiplicative function, root.

Institutionally, the state is "an administrative and legal order subject to change by legislation, to which the organized activities of the administrative staff, which are also controlled by regulations, are oriented" (Weber 1968: 55 f).

The Monopoly of Administration represents the state’s capability to implement policies and govern inhabitants throughout the state territory. A state directs what Mann (1984: 189) calls “infrastructural power” as the ability to implement logistical decisions within the realm of the state. The monopoly of administration contains the organizational structures of the state, the territorial and societal reach, material resources and organizational competencies internal to the bureaucracy.

Administrative and infrastructural efficiency based on legal-rationale administrative organisation includes (1) “Criteria for appointment decisions in the state administration” and (2) “Bureaucratic remuneration”. The indicator (3) “Access to public services distributed by urban-rural location” measures whether access to basic public services is distributed equally across urban and rural areas.

Method of Aggregation: Weighted multiplicative function, root.