This book gives an up to date reference on the state of the art in this highly important methodological area, which is central both to theoretical models of party competition and to empirical accounts, whether these are case studies or comparative analyses. It looks at subjects including tracking estimates of public opinion and party policy intentions in Britain and the USA; the policy space of party manifestos; and party platforms and voters' perceptions. Its panel of respected contributors reviews the refinements which have been made to established techniques as well as considering the potential and early successes of computer coding.
List of figures x List of tables xii List of contributors xv Series Editors preface xviii PART I Overview 1(30) Why should we estimate the policy positions of political actors? 3(7) Michael Laver Searching for the positions of political actors: a review of approaches and a critical evaluation of expert surveys 10(21) Peter Mair PART II Expert coded text analysis 31(116) Manifesto research since 1979: from reliability to validity 33(17) Andrea Volkens Validating the Manifesto Research Group approach: theoretical assumptions and empirical confirmations 50(16) Ian Budge Position and salience in the policies of political actors 66(10) Michael Laver A framework for analysing local party policy emphases in Scotland 76(14) Bodil Agasster The policy space of party manifestos 90(25) Michael D. McDonald Silvia M. Mendes Analysing party dynamics by taking partially overlapping snapshots 115(18) Wouter Van Der Brug Estimating interparty policy distances from election programmes in Quebec, 1970-89 133(14) Francois Petry Rejean Landry PART III Computer coded text analysis 147(90) A natural sentences approach to the computer coding of party manifestos 149(13) Leonard Ray Measurement of party positions on the basis of party programmes, media coverage and voter perceptions 162(21) Jan Kleinnijenhuis Paul Pennings The computer coding of political texts: results from Britain, Germany, Ireland and Norway 183(10) John Garry Estimating policy positions from the computer coding of political texts: results from Italy, the Netherlands and Ireland 193(24) Miranda De Vries Daniela Giannetti Lucy Mansergh Tracking estimates of public opinion and party policy intentions in Britain and the USA 217(20) Judith Bara PART IV Conclusion 237(8) How should we estimate the policy positions of political actors? 239(6) Michael Laver Index 245
Michael Laver is Professor of Political Science at Trinity College Dublin. His recent publications include: Making and Breaking Governments (with Kenneth A Shepsle; Private Desire, Political Action; and Playing Politics: the Nightmare Continues. His current research focusses on computer coded text analysis and dynamic models of party competition.