Electoral Institutions, Social Diversity and Fragmentation of Party Systems: A Reassessment

Flick Witzig, Martina; Vatter, Adrian (2018). Electoral Institutions, Social Diversity and Fragmentation of Party Systems: A Reassessment. Swiss political science review / Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft, 24(1), pp. 1-15. Wiley 10.1111/spsr.12285

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The article examines the determinants of party fragmentation based on electoral district data from the Swiss cantons (2010‐2015). In contrast to previous studies, three different dependent variables are taken into account: firstly, the raw number of parties, secondly, the effective number of parties based on vote shares and, thirdly, the effective number of legislative parties. On all three levels, the exclusion magnitude proves to be the most important factor. Compared to this, other institutional variables contribute little explanatory power. However, apparentments are relevant in the first stage of our analysis as they increase the raw number of parties standing for election. In terms of sociological factors, we only find limited relevance. Denominational and linguistic heterogeneity do not have any impact. This can be explained by the fact that linguistic heterogeneity is only weakly pronounced at district level. The finding emphasises the importance of district‐based data for the analysis of party system fragmentation in general.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

03 Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences > Social Sciences > Institute of Political Science

UniBE Contributor:

Flick Witzig, Martina, Vatter, Adrian

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science

ISSN:

1424-7755

Publisher:

Wiley

Language:

English

Submitter:

Reachel Klamt

Date Deposited:

07 May 2018 14:04

Last Modified:

21 Mar 2024 16:40

Publisher DOI:

10.1111/spsr.12285

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.113909

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/113909

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