The Partisan Composition of Cantonal Governments in Switzerland, 1848-2017: A New Data Set
Journal
Swiss Political Science Review : SPSR
ISSN
1424-7755
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2019-03
Author(s)
Abstract (De)
Scholars increasingly use Swiss cantons to examine the effect of democratic processes and institutions on political, economic and social outcomes. However, the availability of political indicators at the cantonal level is limited, in particular for longer periods of time. We introduce a novel data set on the ideological and partisan composition of cantonal governments, covering the period 1848‐2017 for most cantons. In this research note, we describe our data collection efforts and present some descriptives on the political development of cantonal governments in order to illustrate the data's potential. In particular, we look at the political strength of different parties and factions, the number of parties in government, government volatility and the nationalization of the party system. Our data thus provide new opportunities to examine political, economic and social outcomes as well as the formation of party systems in the Swiss cantons.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SEPS - Global Democratic Governance
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
25
Number
1
Start page
1
End page
18
Subject(s)
Division(s)
Eprints ID
256172