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This article introduces centrality in covoting networks as a measure of influence. Based on a simple cueing dynamic, it conceptualizes those lawmakers as most central—and thus as having the greatest signaling influence—who impact the greatest number of colleagues' voting decisions. A formal proof and an agent‐based simulation show that cue‐providers are always more central than followers; hence, we can use real‐world voting data to identify the most influential legislators. To confirm the measure's construct validity, we predict covoting centrality in the European Parliament and find those factors that are expected to impact legislators' influence to predict their centrality.

ABSTRACTContent analysis is the process of turning text into data, with either automated or manual techniques, and it provides a feasible and attractive option for undergraduate students to develop and utilize original data. This article presents a cohesive framework for teaching computerized content analysis in undergraduate political science courses. The article discusses examples of how we have taught the techniques in our own classrooms and provides a framework for a content-analysis research assignment. We describe coding, sources of text data available to students, software recommendations appropriate for students, and write-up issues. In the process, we also discuss various learning opportunities that arise from both the strengths and weaknesses of computerized content analysis as a methodological strategy.

This article describes and discusses the new generation of methodological responses to measuring democracy and related issues generated by Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem). V-Dem is distinct in several regards in addition to its unique level of disaggregation, by the combination of: historical data extending back to 1900 and for a large selection among them to 1789 for many countries in the world; use of multiple, independent coders for each evaluative question; inter-coder reliability tests incorporated into a custom designed Bayesian item-response theory measurement model; provision of confidence bounds for all point estimates associated with expert-coded questions as well as for all indices; multiple indices reflecting varying theories of democracy; fully transparent aggregation procedures; and that all data are made freely available, including original coder-level judgments (exclusive of any personal identifying information).