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How population size affects party systems and cabinet duration

Sikk, A; Taagepera, R; (2014) How population size affects party systems and cabinet duration. Party Politics , 20 (4) 591 - 603. 10.1177/1354068811436068. Green open access

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Abstract

This study develops and tests theoretical formulas for linking country size and party system characteristics. For countries using one-seat electoral districts or nationwide districts, the averages of the largest seat-share, effective number of assembly parties and mean duration of cabinets can be predicted based solely on population. For countries allocating seats by PR in multi-seat districts, the averages of these characteristics can be predicted based on population and district magnitude. We show that first-past-the-post countries of less than one million tend to have highly dominant largest parties and one-and-a-half party assemblies, rather than a balance of two parties. For larger countries, and PR countries of any size, population is not destiny, as far as party system is concerned.

Type: Article
Title: How population size affects party systems and cabinet duration
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/1354068811436068
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1354068811436068
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2014 by SAGE Publications
Keywords: country size, electoral change, electoral systems, party systems, predictive models
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > SSEES
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1349990
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