Post-communist Elections, 1990-2002

UKDA study number:4666

Principal Investigators

Millard, F.
Birch, S.
Popescu, M.
University of Essex. Department of Government
Williams, K.
University College London. School of Slavonic and East European Studies

Sponsor

Economic and Social Research Council

Distributed by

UK Data Archive, University of Essex, Colchester.

June 2003

Bibliographic Citation

All works which use or refer to these materials should acknowledge these sources by means of bibliographic citation. To ensure that such source attributions are captured for bibliographic indexes, citations must appear in footnotes or in the reference section of publications. The bibliographic citation for this data collection is:

Millard, F. et al. , Post-communist Elections, 1990-2002 [computer file]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], June 2003. SN: 4666, http://dx.doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-4666-1

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4666 . Post-communist Elections, 1990-2002

Depositor:

Millard, F. , University of Essex. Department of Government

Principal Investigators:

Millard, F. , University of Essex. Department of Government

Birch, S. , University of Essex. Department of Government

Popescu, M. , University of Essex. Department of Government

Williams, K. , University College London. School of Slavonic and East European Studies

Sponsor:

Economic and Social Research Council
Grant Number: L213252021

Other Acknowledgements:

International Foundation for Election Systems, Washington D.C. (IFES) and Association of Central and East European Election Officials, Budapest, Hungary (ACEEEO).

Abstract:

Political science has a good understanding of the role of elections and the ways in which the choice of electoral laws help shape a political system. However, since these generalisations were developed in relation to established democratic polities, they may not necessarily apply to newly democratising countries. This project explored the role played by elections in the process of post-communist democratisation by examining the impact of elections on democratic performance, representativeness and policy responsiveness. It will focus on eight core countries, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia and the Ukraine, employing a range of historical, comparative, and quantitative methods to test postulated relationships and identify key causal factors. For certain quantitative purposes the study will use a wider set of 19 countries to test its findings. The project will assess the consequences of different electoral systems, particularly the formulae for converting votes into seats, the criteria laid down for political participation, and regulations governing candidate selection and the conduct of election campaigns.
The project led to academic publications that advanced understanding of elections and the electoral process in new democracies. Many theories derived from the study of Western Europe do not apply to new democracies, where the impact of electoral systems is neither immediate nor straightforward, for example mixed systems have led to party fragmentation rather than to the expected party consolidation. The monograph Embodying Democracy: Electoral System Design in Post-communist Europe is the first comparative explanation of how post-communist countries choose their electoral rules. It demonstrates the importance of context for understanding how actors engage in strategic bargaining.
Contact with East European policy-makers provides a practical dimension, both in the conduct of the research and in its ability to make practical recommendations on the modification of electoral laws. The resulting database will constitute an important international resource for academics and practitioners.

Main Topics:

The dataset comprises election results at constituency level of post-communist parliamentary elections from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Results include all candidates in single-member constituencies (where relevant), separately for each component in mixed electoral systems. Lower chamber results are available for all countries listed, and results for the Senate are also available for the Romanian elections.
Candidate data, including party; constituency; gender; age; education; occupation are available for:
Lithuanian elections of 1992, 1996 and 2000
Russia 1993 (incomplete as available) 1995 and 1999
Poland 1991, 1993, 1997 and 2001
Czech Republic 1996 and 1998
Slovakia 1994, 1998 and 2002
Ukraine 1994 and 1998
Hungarian candidate data is available for the 1994 and 1998 elections and it only includes information on: party affiliation; result; gender of candidates that stood in single-member districts.
Romanian (incomplete) candidate data include: party; winning parties in a constituency; gender.

Coverage:

Time Period Covered: 1990 - 2002
Dates of Fieldwork: June 1999 - June 2002
Country: Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Estonia; Hungary; Lithuania; Poland; Romania; Russia; Slovakia; Ukraine
Spatial Units: Parliamentary Constituencies
Observation Units: Individuals; Administrative units (geographical/political)
Kind of Data: Numeric data; Alpha/numeric data; Aggregate (macro) level

Universe Sampled:

Location of Units of Observation: Cross-national
National
Population: Election results at constituency level and candidate data at several elections in each of the countries for the period 1990-2002.

Methodology:

Time Dimensions: Time Series
Result of continuous administrative process or aggregate statistics.
Sampling Procedures: No sampling (total universe)
Method of Data Collection: Election returns
Data Sources: The data represent a complete transcription but occasionally the original sources, i.e. Romanian candidate data and Russian 1993 results and candidate data, were incomplete.

Language(s) of Written Materials:

Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:

Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Availability: ESDS Access and Preservation, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: help@esds.ac.uk

Date of First Release:

2 June 2003

File last updated:

4 January 2012