Abstract
Cross-national models of party system fragmentation hold that social diversity and district
magnitude interact: higher levels of district magnitude allow for greater expression of social
diversity that leads to higher levels of party system fragmentation. Most models, however, ignore
differences between majoritarian and proportional electoral rules, which may significantly alter
the impact of district magnitude, as well as the way in which district magnitude impacts the
translation of social cleavages into party system fragmentation. Examining the case of Singapore
suggests majoritarian multimember districts limit party system fragmentation, particularly by
reducing the degree to which ethnic and religious diversity are translated into political parties.
Applying these insights to a standard cross-national model of party system fragmentation, the
results suggest that majoritarian multimember districts produce lower levels of party system
fragmentation than proportional multimember districts.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 311-326 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Asian Journal of Comparative Politics |
Volume | 2 |
Issue number | 4 |
Early online date | 21 Nov 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01 Dec 2017 |
Keywords
- district magnitude
- ethnic diversity
- party systems
- religious diversity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
- Political Science and International Relations