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A preliminary simulative assessment of disproportionality indices

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Author Info
Migheli, Matteo ()
Ortona, Guido ()
Ponzano, Ferruccio ()

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Abstract

What do indices of disproportionality actually measure? They provide an aggregate estimation of the difference between votes cast and seats assignment, but the relation between the value of the indices and the will of the voters is highly questionable. The reason is that when casting the vote the voter is deeply affected by the electoral system itself, possibly more deeply than s/he understands. The aim of this paper is to assess the performance of the most used indices of disproportionality with respect to the will of voters. To do so we compare by simulation their performance in some major electoral systems and with reference to some stylised typical cases. We use as a benchmark a "true" index, i.e. an index that measures the difference between the will of the voters (instead of the votes) and the assignment of seats. In our experiment all the indices considered perform poorly, with the unexpected exception of the Loosemore-Hanby index.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS in its series P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers with number 116.

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Length: 15 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2009
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Handle: RePEc:uca:ucapdv:116

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Related research
Keywords: Simulations; Representativity indices; Fitness of indices;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
C15 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Statistical Simulation Methods
D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Models of Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Dr. Peter Kenning & Hilke Plassmann, 2004. "NeuroEconomics," Experimental 0412005, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  2. Vani K. Borooah, 2002. "The Proportionality of Electoral Systems: Electoral Welfare and Electoral Inequality," Economics and Politics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 14(1), pages 83-98. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Orso, Cristina Elisa, 2009. "Formal and informal sectors: Interactions between moneylenders and traditional banks in the rural Indian credit market," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 135, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  2. Privileggi, Fabio, 2008. "On the transition dynamics in endogenous recombinant growth models," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 120, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  3. Bondonio, Daniele, 2009. "Impact identification strategies for evaluating business incentive programs," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 129, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  4. Giuranno, Michele, 2009. "The logic of party coalitions with political activism and public financing," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 134, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
  5. Cavaleri, Pietro & Keren, Michael & Ramello, Giovanni B. & Valli, Vittorio, 2009. "Publishing an E-journal on a shoe string: Is it a sustainaible project?," P.O.L.I.S. department's Working Papers 118, Department of Public Policy and Public Choice - POLIS. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-11.


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