Measuring Electoral Systems

In: Political research quarterly: PRQ ; official journal of the Western Political Science Association and other associations, Band 63, Heft 2, S. 434-448

Abstract

This article compares and assesses four freely available cross-sectional time-series data sets in terms of their information on ballot structure, district structure, and formula of the electoral system in use for lower house and, if relevant, upper house and presidential elections. The authors find that the choice of data source matters for conclusions drawn on the consequences of electoral systems for both party systems and corruption, but that no source can be given prominence over the other on methodological grounds. Students of electoral systems must thus, in the future, make their results sensitive to the choice of data source. Adapted from the source document.