scholarly journals Cross-National Surveys and the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey A. Karp ◽  
Jack Vowles
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Case Selection ◽  
National Comparison ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
Cross National

This chapter examines the development of cross-national survey research in political science and the challenges that it brings. Cross-national surveys have proliferated across the globe and arguably now form one of the most important frontiers in the development of survey research in political science. Cross-national comparison allows researchers to investigate the importance of institutional and cultural contexts that shape public opinion and political behavior. The chapter traces the development of such instruments for the purposes of comparative analysis in political science, in the context of more general developments in polling and survey research. As an example, it focuses on the case of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES), an international collaboration active since 1996, examining the development of the project and evaluating issues such as cross-cultural equivalence in questionnaire design, survey mode and response rates, and case selection.

Elections Activate Partisanship across Countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 248-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHANE P. SINGH ◽  
JUDD R. THORNTON
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Party Attachment ◽  
The Comparative Study ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Cross National

It has long been argued that elections amplify partisan predispositions. We take advantage of the timing of the cross-national post-election surveys included in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems to explore the effects that elections have on individuals’ attachments to political parties. Within these surveys, under the assumption that the dates on which respondents are interviewed are assigned independent of factors known to affect partisanship, we are able to identify the causal effects of election salience on partisan attachments. We find strong evidence that election salience increases the probability of one having a party attachment, increases the strength of attachments, and heightens the relationship between partisanship and evaluations of political actors. Empirical explorations of our identifying assumption bolster its validity. Our results substantiate the causal role that elections play in activating partisanship.

scholarly journals Enhancing the Validity and Cross-Cultural Comparability of Measurement in Survey Research

2004 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
GARY KING ◽  
CHRISTOPHER J. L. MURRAY ◽  
JOSHUA A. SALOMON ◽  
AJAY TANDON
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Model ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Response Category ◽  
The Self ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Cross National

We address two long-standing survey research problems: measuring complicated concepts, such as political freedom and efficacy, that researchers define best with reference to examples; and what to do when respondents interpret identical questions in different ways. Scholars have long addressed these problems with approaches to reduce incomparability, such as writing more concrete questions—with uneven success. Our alternative is to measure directly response category incomparability and to correct for it. We measure incomparability via respondents' assessments, on the same scale as the self-assessments to be corrected, of hypothetical individuals described in short vignettes. Because the actual (but not necessarily reported) levels of the vignettes are invariant over respondents, variability in vignette answers reveals incomparability. Our corrections require either simple recodes or a statistical model designed to save survey administration costs. With analysis, simulations, and cross-national surveys, we show how response incomparability can drastically mislead survey researchers and how our approach can alleviate this problem.

scholarly journals Enhancing the Validity and Cross-Cultural Comparability of Measurement in Survey Research

2003 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
GARY KING ◽  
CHRISTOPHER J. L. MURRAY ◽  
JOSHUA A. SALOMON ◽  
AJAY TANDON
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Model ◽  
Survey Research ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Response Category ◽  
The Self ◽  
Political Freedom ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Self Assessments ◽  
Cross National

We address two long-standing survey research problems: measuring complicated concepts, such as political freedom and efficacy, that researchers define best with reference to examples; and what to do when respondents interpret identical questions in different ways. Scholars have long addressed these problems with approaches to reduce incomparability, such as writing more concrete questions—with uneven success. Our alternative is to measure directly response category incomparability and to correct for it. We measure incomparability via respondents' assessments, on the same scale as the self-assessments to be corrected, of hypothetical individuals described in short vignettes. Because the actual (but not necessarily reported) levels of the vignettes are invariant over respondents, variability in vignette answers reveals incomparability. Our corrections require either simple recodes or a statistical model designed to save survey administration costs. With analysis, simulations, and cross-national surveys, we show how response incomparability can drastically mislead survey researchers and how our approach can alleviate this problem.

scholarly journals Winning, Losing, and the Quality of Democracy

2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172110261
Author(s):  
Richard Nadeau ◽  
Jean-François Daoust ◽  
Ruth Dassonneville
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Motivated Reasoning ◽  
Quality Of Democracy ◽  
Electoral Democracy ◽  
Democratic Systems ◽  
The Comparative Study

Citizens who voted for a party that won the election are more satisfied with democracy than those who did not. This winner–loser gap has recently been found to vary with the quality of electoral democracy: the higher the quality of democracy, the smaller the gap. However, we do not know what drives this relationship. Is it driven by losers, winners, or both? And Why? Linking our work to the literature on motivated reasoning and macro salience and benefiting from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems project—covering 163 elections in 51 countries between 1996 and 2018, our results show that the narrower winner–loser gap in well-established electoral democracies is not only a result of losers being more satisfied with democracy, but also of winners being less satisfied with their victory. Our findings carry important implications since a narrow winner–loser gap appears as a key feature of healthy democratic systems.

scholarly journals Factors driving employee participation in corporate BYOD programs: A cross-national comparison from the perspective of future employees

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuequn Wang ◽  
Andy Weeger ◽  
Heiko Gewald
Keyword(s):  
Recent Literature ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Bring Your Own Device ◽  
National Cultures ◽  
Cross Cultural Differences ◽  
The World ◽  
Intention To Participate ◽  
National Comparison ◽  
Global Operations ◽  
Cross National

As individuals all around the world increasingly use mobile devices in their daily life, their desire to use the same devices in the workplace continuously grows. In response, organizations are more and more allowing their employees to use their own devices for both business and private purposes and offer so called ‘Bring-your-own-Device’ (BYOD) programs. For organizations with global operations there is a need to examine the drivers of BYOD demand across different national cultures to assess how to develop a successful BYOD program. Based on recent literature on BYOD, we examine how different factors contribute to employees’ behavioural intention to participate in a BYOD program across different national cultures. The model was examined by surveying students from China, Germany and U.S. in their final term. The results show significant cross-cultural differences, particularly regarding the 'Perceived Threats'. Overall this study offers novel insights for cross cultural BYOD implementations.

Toward a Theory of Constitutional Amendment

1994 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald S. Lutz
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Constitutional Amendment ◽  
Constitutional Design ◽  
Empirical Verification ◽  
American States ◽  
Key Variables ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Cross National

Constitutional design proceeds under the assumption that institutions have predictable consequences, but modern political science has not pursued the empirical verification of these predicted consequences with much vigor. I shall attempt to link the theoretical premises underlying one important aspect of constitutional design, the amendment process, with the empirical patterns revealed by a systematic, comparative study of constitutions. An examination of all amendments in the 50 American states since 1776 reveals patterns that are then confirmed using data from 32 national constitutions. The interaction of the two key variables affecting amendment rate can be described by an equation that generates predicted amendment rates close to those found in the cross-national empirical analysis. A constitution's length measured in number of words, the difficulty of an amendment process, and the rate of amendment turn out to have interlocking consequences that illuminate principles of constitutional design.

Using the Total Survey Error Paradigm to Improve Cross-National Research on Religion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom W. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Survey Research ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Functional Equivalence ◽  
National Surveys ◽  
Survey Error ◽  
Comparison Error ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Role Of Religion ◽  
Cross National

Cross-national research is an absolute necessity if we are to understand contemporary human societies in general and the role of religion in particular. To be useful, comparative survey research needs to meet high scientific standards of reliability and validity and achieve functional equivalence across surveys. This chapter examines how well-designed and well-executed cross-national/cultural survey research can best minimize error and maximize equivalence. The chapter first introduces the concept of total survey error (TSE), including interactions among the error components, its application when multiple surveys are involved, and comparison error across cross-national surveys. Second, obtaining functional equivalence and similarity in cross-national surveys is discussed. Third, the challenges of doing cross-national surveys are considered, as well as how combining traditional approaches for maximizing functional equivalence with the utilization of TSE can minimize comparison error and maximize comparative reliability and validity. Fourth, attention is given to minimizing comparison error in question wordings in general. Special attention is given to dealing with differences in language, structure, and culture. Lastly, specific issues relating to studying religion cross-nationally are examined.

Digital Campaigning across Space

2020 ◽  
pp. 44-71
Author(s):  
Rachel K. Gibson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
Multilevel Modeling ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
The United States ◽  
Voter Mobilization ◽  
Internet Penetration ◽  
Digital Campaigning ◽  
The Comparative Study

This chapter examines developments in digital campaigning in comparative perspective. It does so using survey data from Wave 4 of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) to measure the extent of digital voter contact occurring in eighteen countries (2011–2015). Based on the understanding that extensive voter mobilization is a key feature of a country’s entry into phase IV digital campaigning, the authors infer which nations have progressed more rapidly through the four phases, and are thus most advanced in their use of digital campaign tools. Using this measure, they find that the United States is the most advanced nation and Thailand the least. They investigate the rankings more systematically using multilevel modeling techniques, and find that presidential elections and higher internet penetration rates are most predictive of higher rates of digital campaign contact. The results are helpful in building expectations about the digital campaign performance of the four national case studies.

The Effects of Compulsory Voting on Individuals

2021 ◽  
pp. 79-132
Author(s):  
Shane P. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Multilevel Models ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Political Sophistication ◽  
Election Study ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
The Comparative Study

This chapter empirically tests the expectation that compulsory voting moderates the effects of orientations toward democracy on political attitudes, behavior, and sophistication. It first employs cross-national survey data from the AmericasBarometer and the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems to estimate multilevel models. It also uses cross-cantonal data from the Swiss Election Study, and novel survey data from Argentina collected for this book. The analyses of the Swiss and Argentine data leverage age-based thresholds in the application of compulsory voting with discontinuity models. Results suggest that, in line with the predictions of the theory advanced in Chapter 3, compulsory voting polarizes behavior and attitudes, and broadens gaps in political sophistication levels, among those with negative and positive orientations toward democracy.

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