Effective number of parties (ICPSR doi:10.17903/FK2/T8P9VB)

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Part 2: Study Description
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Document Description

Citation

Title:

Effective number of parties

Identification Number:

doi:10.17903/FK2/T8P9VB

Distributor:

Κατάλογος Δεδομένων SoDaNet

Date of Distribution:

2022-06-20

Version:

1

Bibliographic Citation:

Laakso, Markku; Taagepera, Rein, 2022, "Effective number of parties", https://doi.org/10.17903/FK2/T8P9VB, Κατάλογος Δεδομένων SoDaNet

Holdings Information:

https://doi.org/10.17903/FK2/T8P9VB

Study Description

Citation

Title:

Effective number of parties

Identification Number:

doi:10.17903/FK2/T8P9VB

Authoring Entity:

Laakso, Markku (University of Helsinki)

Taagepera, Rein (University of California, Irvine)

Software used in Production:

SPSS

Distributor:

Κατάλογος Δεδομένων SoDaNet

Date of Distribution:

2022-06-20

Holdings Information:

https://doi.org/10.17903/FK2/T8P9VB

Study Scope

Keywords:

ELECTIONS, ELECTION DATA, POLITICAL PARTIES

Topic Classification:

POLITICS, Elections

Abstract:

The effective number of parties is a concept introduced by Laakso and Taagepera (1979), which provides for an adjusted number of political parties in a country's party system. The idea behind this measure is to count parties and, at the same time, to weight the count by their relative strength. The number of parties equals the effective number of parties only when all parties have equal strength. In any other case, the effective number of parties is lower than the actual number of parties. This measure is especially useful when comparing party systems across countries and is a frequent operationalization for the fragmentation of a party system.

Methodology and Processing

Data Access