A New European Dataset and the Measurement of Party System Closure
Keyword(s):
The second chapter introduces the dataset of the book, defines its units of measurement, and operationalizes its key concepts. We discuss the method of creating our principal tool of analysis, the composite closure index. We reflect in detail on the question of how experiences accumulated through time can be taken into account when measuring stability. Finally, in a validation exercise, we also investigate whether our closure index could have been used to predict which democracies collapsed around the world between the two World Wars. With this exercise we also show that closure is a better proxy for party system institutionalization than the more traditionally used indicator, the electoral volatility index.
2021 ◽
Keyword(s):
2016 ◽
Vol 48
(2)
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pp. 315-342
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2019 ◽
Vol 3
(1-2)
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pp. 149-163
2012 ◽
Vol 48
(5)
◽
pp. 577-593
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