Level and sources of electoral volatility in post-communist Europe

The project analyses the level and sources of electoral volatility in post-communist countries. This project focuses on individual-level volatility in consecutive parliamentary elections by examining electoral participation and party choice decisions. This project is composed of two parts: (1) estimating the level of volatility and its decomposition according to the newness of parties (within- and extra-system volatility), the positions of parties within the party system (block and within-block volatility), and electoral participation; and (2) testing explanations of electoral volatility and its components. The project will use secondary analyses of post-election and panel surveys. The theoretical and methodological innovations of the project lie for example in the use of a refined definition of electoral volatility, systematic implementation of this definition across post-communist countries, and cross-validation using post-election and panel survey data.