The validity of the Rile left–right index as a measure of party policy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7950466 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Martin Mölder (0000-0002-9701-1771, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 37-48 |
| Publication date | 2016-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Party Politics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1354-0688 • E-ISSN: 1460-3683 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1354068813509525 |
| OpenAlex | W2053799600 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 25 |
| References cited | 43 |
The RILE index of the manifesto dataset is a popular but controversial estimate of parties’ left–right positions. It has been thoroughly criticized, yet a basic question of its validity has not been addressed. In the current article I argue that for the index to be valid, patterns of association presumed by the logic of the index must be present in the data used to calculate it. I apply canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to test these associations within and between the sets of variables that form the left–right (RILE) index, concluding that for countries which have not experienced a communist past the relationship is present, although substantively weak. More important, however, is that for post-communist countries the required associations in the data are clearly not there. The RILE index is therefore an invalid measure of left–right position for this set of countries
Communism · Data mining · Economics · Index (typography · Law and economics · Manifesto · Measure (data warehouse · Political science · Politics · Position (finance · Set (abstract data type · Computer Science · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Media and Politics
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Measurement Validity
| Unique citing works | 25 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,27 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2025 (11) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 25 |