Assessing the validity of the Manifesto Common Space Scores

• Verfasst von: Flentje, Jan-Erik [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: König, Thomas [VerfasserIn]
• Verfasst von: Marbach, Moritz [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: Assessing the validity of the Manifesto Common Space Scores
• Verf.angabe: Jan-Erik Flentje, Thomas König, Moritz Marbach
• Umfang: 11 S.
• Fussnoten: Gesehen am 05.04.2018
• Titel Quelle: Enthalten in: Electoral studies
• Jahr Quelle: 2017
• Band/Heft Quelle: 47(2017), S. 25-35
• ISSN Quelle: 1873-6890
• DOI: doi:10.1016/j.electstud.2017.03.004
• Datenträger: Online-Ressource
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1571729453

Abstract

RILE estimates based on party manifesto data suggest that political parties leapfrog on the left-right scale over time. This implausible finding has raised questions about the efficacy not only of RILE for estimating left-right positions but of coded party manifestos for political science research in general. The recently developed Manifesto Common Space Scores (MCSS), which reduce leapfrogging by accounting for the election-specific character of party manifestos, provide alternative estimates for parties left/right-positions, but little is known about their validity. This study shows that MCSS estimates exhibit greater convergent validity relative to RILE estimates when compared to other measures of parties left/right-positions. It also finds that MCSS has greater construct validity relative to RILE estimates in two prominent cases (Greece and Italy). Overall, the findings underscore the election-specific character of party manifestos and demonstrate that MCSS is a useful alternative measure of parties’ left-right positions.