Governments, 1950-1995
Codebook
August 2002 Version
Michael D. McDonald
Silvia M. Mendes
Department of Political Science
Binghamton University (SUNY)
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
UNITED STATES
Universidade do Minho
Escola de Economia e Gestão
Departmento de Gestão e Adm. Pública
Gualtar
4710 Braga
PORTUGAL
mdmcd@binghamton.edu
smendes@eeg.uminho.pt
Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Aida Paskeviciute for identifying several errors in our
seats and votes input and to Jaap Woldendorp for supplying us with information and
understandings about various parliaments and governments.
1
Data Set Description
The data report on the governments of 21 Western countries. Except for France, Portugal, and
Spain, the time period covers a country’s first government after its first election in the 1950s
through any government forming before 1996. Data on France cover the Fifth Republic through
any government forming before 1996. For Portugal and Spain, coverage begins after they
democratized in the middle-1970s and continues through any government forming before 1996.
Cases are ordered by nation and government.
Number of Cases
Governments = 486
Elections = 266
Accuracy Status as of August 2002
Each variable has been checked for accuracy numerous times in various ways. Still, on occasion
when using these data we have come across inconsistencies or other forms of errors. Based on
experience cleaning and using these data, we estimate that the accuracy rate, with respect to
correspondence between our data and information reported by our sources, greatly exceeds
99.5%. Contact both McDonald and Mendes by e-mail, if you suspect that an entry is in error.
Sources
We rely on five sources. These are identified here, followed by a short title in parentheses. In the
Variable List below, we identify the source of each variable by that short title. Variables that are
either created or computed as logical or arithmetic derivations of other data are also identified as
such.
Budge, Ian Hans-Dieter Klingemann, Andrea Volkens, Eric Tannenbaum, and Judith Bara. 2001.
Mapping Policy Preferences: Estimates for Parties, Electors, and Governments 19451998. Oxford: Oxford University Press. (source = CMP98)
European Journal of Political Research, annual country political updates. (source = EJPR)
Mackie, Thomas T. and Richard Rose. 1991. International Almanac of Electoral History, 3rd ed.
Washington: Congressional Quarterly, Inc. (source = MR)
Volkens, Andrea, Kai-Uwe Schnapp, and Jürgen Lass. 1992. Data Handbook on Election
Results and Seats in the National Parliaments of 26 Contemporary Democracies, 19451990. Berlin: WZB. (source = Volkens et al.)
Woldendorp, Jaap, Hans Keman, and Ian Budge. 2000. Party Government in 48 Democracies
(1945-1998). Amsterdam: Kluwer Academic. (source = WKB)
2
VARIABLE LISTING
Var #1
NATION:
Country name (source = created)
Var #2
NATIONID:
Country numeric code (source = CMP98)
Var #3
GOVTSEQ:
Government sequence number (source = WKB)
Var #4
GOVTDATE: Government starting date (source = WKB)
Var #5
GOVTTIME: Government duration (source = WKB)
Var #6
TOTLTIME: Total time governments in data set (source = created)
Var #7
ELECDATE: Election date (source = Volkens et al, MR, & EJPR)
Var #8
ELECSIZE:
Size of the electorate (source = Volkens et al, MR, & EJPR)
Var #9
TURNOUT:
Voter turnout (source = Volkens et al, MR, & EJPR)
Var #10
VALIDVOT: Valid votes cast (source = Volkens et al, MR, & EJPR)
Var #11
PARLSIZE:
Var #12
CARETAKE: Caretaker government (source = WKB)
Var #13
NONPARTY: Nonpartisan government (source = WKB)
Var #14
TRANSITN:
Var #15
GOVTELEC: Government formed after an election (source = created)
Var #16
INCMBGOV: Incumbent government (source = created)
Var #17
GPTYVOTE: Government party votes (source = created)
Var #18
GPTYSEAT: Government party seats (source = created)
Var #19
GPVPCT:
Government party vote percentage (source = computed)
Var #20
GPSPCT:
Government party seat percentage (source = computed)
Var #21
EPTYPLUR: Electoral plurality party in government (source = created)
Var #22
PTY2ND:
Var #23
PARLPLUR: Parliamentary plurality party in government (source = created)
Var #24
NPTYGOVT: Number of parties in government (source = computed)
Var #25
GOVLRE:
Government left-right position, simple mean using electionspecific left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Var #26
GOVLR3:
Government left-right position, simple mean using three-election
moving average left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Var #27
GOVLRX:
Government left-right position, simple mean using post-war
average left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Parliamentary size, lower chamber (source = Volkens et al,
MR, & EJPR)
Transition government (source = created)
Party with 2nd highest vote in government (source = created)
3
Var #28
WGOVLRE: Government left-right position, weighted mean using electionspecific left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Var #29
WGOVLR3:
Var #30
WGOVLRX: Government left-right position, weighted mean using post-war
average left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Var #31
MDN_LRE:
Var #32
MPNGOVE: Party of median parliamentarian in government
(source = created)
Var #33
NMDNPTYE: Number of parties forming median position, based on electionspecific left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Var #34
MDN_LR3:
Left-right parliamentary median position using three-election
moving average left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Var #35
MPNGOV3:
Party of median parliamentarian in government, based on threeelection moving average left-right score (source = created)
Var #36
NMDNPTY3: Number of parties forming median position, based on electionspecific left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Var #37
MDN_LRX:
Var #38
MPNGOVX: Party of median parliamentarian in government, based on threeelection moving average left-right score (source = created)
Var #39
NMDNPTYX: Number of parties forming median position, based on post-war
average left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Var #40
MAX1VOTE: Maximum vote percentage won by a party among those in
government
Var #41
MVE_KF:
Median voter left-right position, election-specific and
using Kim and Fording approach (source = created)
Var #42
MV3_KF:
Median voter left-right position, moving average and
using Kim and Fording approach (source = created)
Var #43
MVX_KF:
Median voter left-right position, post-war average and
using Kim and Fording approach (source = created)
Var #44
MVE:
Median voter left-right position, election-specific and
using adjusted Kim and Fording approach (source = created)
Var #45
MV3:
Median voter left-right position, moving average and
using adjusted Kim and Fording approach (source = created)
Var #46
MVX:
Median voter left-right position, post-war average and
using adjusted Kim and Fording approach (source = created)
Government left-right position, weighted mean using threeelection moving average left-right score (source = created using
CMP98)
Left-right parliamentary median position using electionspecific left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
Left-right parliamentary median position using post-war
average left-right score (source = created using CMP98)
4
VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS
Var #1
Var #2
Var #3
NATION:
Country name
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Netherlands
New Zealand
NATIONID:
Country numeric code
11
12
13
14
15
21
22
23
31
32
33
35
41
42
Sweden
Norway
Denmark
Finland
Iceland
Belgium
Netherlands
GOVTSEQ:
Luxembourg
France
Italy
Spain
Portugal
Germany
Austria
Portugal
Norway
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States
43
51
53
61
62
63
64
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Ireland
United States
Canada
Australia
New Zealand
Government sequence number
Waldendorp, Keman, & Budge (2000) EJPR government
sequence number
Var #4
GOVTDATE:
Government starting date
Year (last two digits), month, and day government took office.
Var #5
GOVTTIME:
Government duration
Number of days government remained in office.
Var #6
TOTLTIME:
Total time from first to last government in data set
Time in days from a country’s first government in data set through government
that formed before 1996 (sum of VAR #5, GOVTTIME).
Var #7
ELECDATE:
Election date
Year (last two digits) and month of election preceding government formation.
5
Var #8
ELECSIZE:
Size of the electorate
Number of persons legally eligible to vote in election preceding government
formation.
Var #9
TURNOUT:
Voter turnout
Number of persons who turned out to vote in election preceding government
formation.
Var #10
VALIDVOT:
Valid votes cast
Number valid ballots cast in election preceding government formation.
Var #11
PARLSIZE:
Parliamentary size, lower chamber
Number of seats in the national parliament during the government
(Note: in the U.S., where presidential elections are coded, the entry
refers to the number of electoral college members)
Var #12
CARETAKE:
0
1
Caretaker government
not a caretaker government
caretaker government
Rule: a government is classified as caretaker based on Waldendorp, Keman,
and Budge (2000) designation of caretaker governments.
Var #13
NONPARTY:
Nonpartisan government
0 partisan government
1 nonpartisan government
Rule: a government is classified as nonpartisan if it existed as a nonpartisan
administration according to Waldendorp, Keman, and Budge (2000) or all parties
associated with government agreed to support but not to have been in
government.
Var #14
TRANSITN:
Transition government
0 not a transition government
1 transition government
Rule: a government is classified as a transition government if it lasted for less
than two months immediately prior to an election.
6
Var #15
GOVTELEC:
0
1
Var #16
Government did not form immediately after an election
Government did form immediately after an election
INCBGOVT:
0
1
Government formed after election
Incumbent government
Not an incumbent government
Incumbent government
Rule: an incumbent is the partisan, non-caretaker, and non-transition
government serving closest in time to an upcoming election.
If a nonpartisan or a caretaker or a transition government was in office
immediately prior to an election, then the government before that one is an
incumbent government.
Var #17
GPTYVOTE:
Government party votes
Number of votes received in the preceding election by the party or parties in
government
Var #18
GPTYSEAT:
Government party parliamentary seats
Number of seats in parliament held by the party or parties in government
Var #19
GPVPCT :
Government party vote percentage
Percentage of votes in preceding election won by party or parties in government
Var #20
GPSPCT :
Government party seat percentage
Percentage of seats in parliament held by party or parties in government
Var #21
EPTYPLUR:
0
1
Electoral plurality party in government
party that won the largest number of votes in preceding election is not in
government
party that won the largest number of votes in preceding election is in
government
7
Var #22
PTY2ND:
0
1
Var #23
1
2
3
4
Var #24
party that won the second highest number of votes in preceding election
is not in government
party that won the second highest number of votes in preceding election
is in government
PARLPLUR:
0
Party with the 2nd highest vote total in government
Parliamentary plurality party in government
party holding the largest number of parliamentary seats is not in
government
party holding the largest number of parliamentary seats is in
government
one of two parties holding, equally, the largest number of parliamentary
seats is in government
(not a valid code)
both parties holding, equally, the largest number of parliamentary seats
are in government
NPTYGOVT:
Number of parties in government
Number of parties in government. Count does not include parties pledged to
support government
Var #25
GOVLRE:
Government left-right position, simple average of
election-specific party left-right scores
Computed as the mean left-right position of parties in government using the
election-specific party left-right scores. See codebook on Governments &
Parliaments for a description of coding for party left-right positions, under
VAR #xx PTY_LRE.
Var #26
GOVLR3:
Government left-right position, simple average across
parties of three-election moving average of party
left-right scores
Computed as the mean left-right position of parties in government using the
three-election moving party left-right scores. . See codebook on Governments &
Parliaments for a description of coding for party left-right positions, under
VAR #xx PTY_LR3.
Var #27
GOVLRX:
Government left-right position, simple average across
parties of post-war average of party left-right scores
Computed as the mean left-right position of parties in government using the
post-war average of party left-right scores. . See codebook on Governments &
Parliaments for a description of coding for party left-right positions, under
VAR #xx PTY_LRX.
8
Var #28
WGOVLRE:
Weighted mean left-right party score based on
election-specific party positions
Computed as the weighted mean left-right position of parties in government
using the election-specific party left-right scores. Weights are the proportion of
seats in parliament held by each party in government. See codebook on
Governments & Parliaments for a description of coding for party left-right
positions, under VAR #xx PTY_LRE.
Var #29
WGOVLR3:
Weighted mean left-right party score based on threeelection moving average of party positions
Computed as the weighted mean left-right position of parties in government
using the three-election moving average party left-right scores. Weights are the
proportion of seats in parliament held by each party in government. See
codebook on Governments & Parliaments for a description of coding for party
left-right positions, under VAR #xx PTY_LR3.
Var #30
WGOVLRX:
Weighted Government left-right position using postwar average of party left-right scores
Computed as the weighted mean left-right position of parties in government
using the post-war average party left-right scores. Weights are the proportion of
seats in parliament held by each party in government. See codebook on
Governments & Parliaments for a description of coding for party left-right
positions, under VAR #xx PTY_LRx.
Var #31
MDN_LRE:
Left-right position of parliamentary median position
based on election-specific left-right party positions
The left-right position of parliamentary median as determined using the electionspecific party left-right positions. Parliamentary median is the position of the
party with which the median parliamentarian affiliates.
Var #32
MPNGOVE:
Whether party of parliamentary median, based on
election-specific left-right party positions, is in
government
Whether the party with which the median parliamentarian affiliates is in
government.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Party of median parliamentarian not in government
The one party of the median parliamentarian is in government
One of two parties that form parliamentary median is in government
(does not exist as valid code)
Both of two parties that form parliamentary median is in government
(does not exist as valid code)
Two of three parties that form parliamentary median are in government
9
Var #33
NMDNPTYE:
Number of parties that form the score of the
parliamentary median based on election-specific
party left-right positions
Codes the number of parties that form the parliamentary median
This is coded 1 or 2, with the exception of the Netherlands Govt #14 when all
three Christian parties had the same left-right score on the election-specific leftright variable and two or those three parties were in government. Code = 3 for
Netherlands, Govt #13.
Var #34
MDN_LR3:
Left-right parliamentary median position based
on three-election moving average left-right
party positions
The left-right position of parliamentary median as determined using the threeelection moving average party left-right positions. Parliamentary median is the
position of the party with which the median parliamentarian affiliates or, in the
case where parliamentary median falls between two parties, the midpoint
between those two parties’ left-right position.
Var #35
MPNGOV3:
Whether party of parliamentary median, based on
three-election moving average of left-right party
positions, is in government
Whether the party with which the median parliamentarian affiliates is in
government.
0
1
2
3
4
Var #36
Party of median parliamentarian not in government
The one party of the median parliamentarian is in government
One of two parties that form the parliamentary median is in government
(does not exist as valid code)
Both of two parties that form the parliamentary median is in government
NMPGOV3:
Number of parties that form the score of the
parliamentary median based on three-election
moving average party left-right positions
Codes the number of parties that form the parliamentary median (1 or 2).
Var #37
MDN_LRX:
Left-right parliamentary median position based on
post-war average left-right party positions
The left-right position of parliamentary median as determined using the post-war
average party left-right positions. Parliamentary median is the position of the
party with which the median parliamentarian affiliates.
10
Var #38
MPNGOVX:
Whether party of parliamentary median, based on
post-war average of left-right party
positions, is in government
Whether the party with which the median parliamentarian affiliates is in
government.
0
1
2
3
4
Var #39
Party of median parliamentarian not in government
The one party of the median parliamentarian is in government
One of two parties that form the parliamentary median is in government
(does not exist as valid code)
Both of two parties that form the parliamentary median is in government
NMDNPTYX:
Number of parties that form the score of the
parliamentary median based on post-war
average party left-right positions
Codes the number of parties that form the parliamentary median (1 or 2).
Var #40
MAX1VOTE:
Maximum vote percentage won by a party among
those in government
Vote percentage from the preceding election won by the party in government that
won the largest vote percentage
Var #41
MVE_KF:
Median voter left-right position, election-specific
and using Kim and Fording approach
Computation of median voter left-right position. Left is negative, zero marks the
center, and right is positive. The computation of this variable uses the ELECL_R
scoring of parties and the PTYVPCT variables. Otherwise, except for the data
adjustments to parties in Iceland and Portugal (see ELECL_R above), the
computation follows the formula and decision rules used by Kim and Fording.
The computations are organized in a separate data file, MedianVoter.sav.
Var #42
MV3_KF:
Median voter left-right position, moving average
and using Kim and Fording approach
Computation of median voter left-right position. Left is negative, zero marks the
center, and right is positive. The computation of this variable uses the MA3L_R
scoring of parties and the PTYVPCT variables. Otherwise, except for the data
adjustments to parties in Iceland and Portugal (see ELECL_R above), the
computation follows the formula and decision rules used by Kim and Fording.
The computations are organized in a separate data file, MedianVoter.sav.
11
Var #43
MVX_KF:
Median voter left-right position, post-war average
and using Kim and Fording approach
Computation of median voter left-right position. Left is negative, zero marks the
center, and right is positive. The computation of this variable uses the
PTYX3L_R scoring of parties and the PTYVPCT variables. Otherwise, except
for the data adjustments to parties in Iceland and Portugal (see ELECL_R above),
the computation follows the formula and decision rules used by Kim and
Fording. The computations are organized in a separate data file,
MedianVoter.sav.
Var #44
MVE:
Median voter left-right position, election-specific
and using adjusted Kim and Fording approach
Computation of median voter left-right position. Left is negative, zero marks the
center, and right is positive. The computation of this variable uses the ELECL_R
scoring of parties and the PTYVPCT variables. Also, the data adjustments
to parties in Iceland and Portugal apply (see ELECL_R above), and the voter
distribution in certain instances is assumed to be different from that assumed by
Kim and Fording. When the farthest left or farthest right party in a system is
involved in the formula, Kim and Fording allow the extreme score of –100 or
+100 to mark the endpoint where voters of that party are located. Rather than
assuming the party’s voters are so widely dispersed, this variable assumes they
are spread in a symmetrical interval around the party’s position. For example,
for a leftmost party at –15 and a 0 midpoint between it and an adjacent party on
the right, we assume the left boundary of that party’s voters is –30. The
computations are organized in a separate data file, MedianVoter.sav.
Var #45
MV3:
Median voter left-right position, moving average
and using adjusted Kim and Fording approach
Computation of median voter left-right position. Left is negative, zero marks the
center, and right is positive. The computation of this variable uses the MA3L_R
scoring of parties and the PTYVPCT variables. Also, the data adjustments
to parties in Iceland and Portugal apply (see ELECL_R above), and the voter
distribution in certain instances is assumed to be different from that assumed by
Kim and Fording. When the farthest left or farthest right party in a system is
involved in the formula, Kim and Fording allow the extreme score of –100 or
+100 to mark the endpoint where voters of that party are located. Rather than
assuming the party’s voters are so widely dispersed, this variable assumes they
are spread in a symmetrical interval around the party’s position. For example,
for a leftmost party at –15 and a 0 midpoint between it and an adjacent party on
the right, we assume the left boundary of that party’s voters is –30. The
computations are organized in a separate data file, MedianVoter.sav.
12
Var #46
MVX:
Median voter left-right position, post-war average
and using adjusted Kim and Fording approach
Computation of median voter left-right position. Left is negative, zero marks the
center, and right is positive. The computation of this variable uses the PTYXL_R
scoring of parties and the PTYVPCT variables. Also, the data adjustments
to parties in Iceland and Portugal apply (see ELECL_R above), and the voter
distribution in certain instances is assumed to be different from that assumed by
Kim and Fording. When the farthest left or farthest right party in a system is
involved in the formula, Kim and Fording allow the extreme score of –100 or
+100 to mark the endpoint where voters of that party are located. Rather than
assuming the party’s voters are so widely dispersed, this variable assumes they
are spread in a symmetrical interval around the party’s position. For example,
for a leftmost party at –15 and a 0 midpoint between it and an adjacent party on
the right, we assume the left boundary of that party’s voters is –30. The
computations are organized in a separate data file, MedianVoter.sav.