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Counting the Number of Parties: An Alternative Index

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2014

Juan Molinar
Juan Molinar
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
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Abstract

I propose an alternative index to operationalize the variable number and size of parties in a party system. To support it, I present a critical overview of the two most common indices, Laakso and Taagepera's effective number of parties and Kesselman and Wildgen's hyperfractionalization, showing the causes of their weakness. Then I explain the computational logic of my alternative, “number of parties,” and compare it with the other two, using hypothetical cases. After that, I contrast the Laakso-Taagepera index with mine, using data from actual elections between 1945 and 1981. I conclude that my index outperforms the other two as an operationalization of the variable number and size of parties.

Type
Research Notes
Information
American Political Science Review , Volume 85 , Issue 4 , December 1991 , pp. 1383 - 1391
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 1991

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