09:30 - 11:10
P1
Room:
Room: South Room 222
Panel Session 1
Pedro Riera - The underrepresentation of the left in districted PR systems
Daniel Smith - How Do Electoral Rules Shape Candidate Selection, Campaign Spending, and Political Representation? Evidence from Japan, 1965-2016
Orit Kedar - Proportional representation with districts: Conceptualization and measurement
Irene Menendez Gonzalez - Trade Origins of Proportional Representation
The underrepresentation of the left in districted PR systems
P1-1
Presented by: Pedro Riera
Pedro Riera 1, Josep Serrano 2
1 University Carlos III of Madrid
2 University Carlos III of Madrid
Previous literature has documented the existence of a bias against the left in majoritarian systems relative to Proportional Representation (PR) systems. However, much less is known about this type of underrepresentation within PR countries. This neglect is particularly troubling given the fact that most PR systems are districted and present a considerable variation in terms of magnitude across districts. In this paper, we build on Kedar (2016) and examine the underrepresentation of left-wing parties across different district magnitudes in PR countries. However, we essentially depart from them by significantly increasing the total number of election years we analyze. With this novelty, we are able to examine potential temporal dynamics in this regard, but also to pay attention to the mechanisms at play. Finally, we also take into account historical data to deal with potential endogeneity problems.