The electoral system

Parliamentary Affairs

Volumn 50, Issue 4, 1997, Pages 733-749

  Dunleavy, Patrick ^a   Margetts, Helen ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0031256760     PISSN: 00312290     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.pa.a028768     Document Type: Article

References (12)

1. Sec J. Curtice and M. Steed, 'Appendix 2: The Results Analysed' in D. Butler and D. Kavanagh (eds), The British General Election of 1992 (Macmillan, 1993), p. 323.
2. A. Lijphart, Electoral Systems and Party Systems (Oxford University Press, 1993), Chapter 3 provides a clear explanation. Lijphart in fact recommends a more complex version of the DV score known as the 'least squares' measure. Since this index is harder to explain, and in our view has some peculiar and undesirable mathematical properties of which Lijphart seems unaware, we concentrate on the simpler DV measure here. The conclusions of our analysis are not affected by the choice of measure.
3. R. Taagepera and M. Shugart, Seats and Votes (Yale University Press, 1989), Chapter 10.
4. We exclude Northern Ireland, because it is essentially a quite separate party system.
5. It is necessary to divide by two because in the process of adding the absolute values, the numbers have in effect been doubled. This formula gives a range of values for DV that can range between 0 and 100% (although in practice it rarely exceeds 50 and it is theoretically possible for it to rise above 100), a desirable property for such an indicator. Omitting the division by two would mean that DV ranged between 0 and 200%. See Taagepera and Shugart, 'Appendix C', p. 260 for a full discussion.
6. Our regions are based on the government 'standard regions', but we separate out major conurbation areas from the rest of the regions. Thus in the north west the conurbation area includes Liverpool, Merseysidc and Greater Manchester; in Yorkshire both former metro-counties in south and west Yorkshire; and in the west Midlands the former metro-county area. We also distinguish between the middle of London (a somewhat broader area than the historic 'Inner London') and the outer suburbs, Scotland is split into three regions - the Highlands, the central lowland area and the southern uplands. Wales is divided between south Wales and the mid and north area.
7. Lijphart, Electoral Systems and Party Systems, p. 67.
8. For a full discussion and cross-country comparisons see P. Dunleavy and H. Margetts, 'The Experiential Approach to Auditing Democracy' in D. Beetham (ed.), Defining and Measuring Democracy (Sage, 1994), p. 155.
9. It should be noted that citizens' experiences of political processes are not necessarily the same as their subjective perceptions of such processes. 'Experience' is defined by the Concise Oxford Dictionary as 'actual observation of or practical acquaintance with facts or events; knowledge or skill resulting from this; an event regarded as affecting one ([as in] 'an unpleasant experience'); the fact or process of being so affected ([as in] 'learning by experience')'. For example, political experiences may build up bit by bit over long time periods all the while generating adaptive responses, without citizens being aware of their own responses.
10. See D. Beetham, Defining and Measuring Democracy, pp. 155-81.
11. See P. Dunleavy, H. Margetts and S. Weir, Replaying the General Election of 1992: How Britain Would Have Voted Under Alternative Electoral Systems (LSE Public Policy Group, 1992).
12. For details of the 1992 survey, see P. Dunleavy, H. Margetts and S. Weir 'Replaying the Election', Parliamentary Affairs, 1992/4.