Replication Data for: Redistribution or Party Competition? Explaining Politicians' Preferences for Democratisation in the Netherlands

The replication package includes two datasets constructed from historical Dutch election and census sources. data_tak.dta (Candidate × District, 1894) — Used to analyse politicians’ support for Minister Tak van Poortvliet’s proposal for quasi-universal manhood suffrage. It combines candidate-level data (party, incumbency, noble status, position on the bill) from the Huygens Institute Election Database Tweede Kamer 1848–1918 and parlement.com with district-level indicators of wealth, occupational structure, and religious mobilisation. Socioeconomic variables (manufacturing share, land ownership, and per-capita tax) are sourced from the Historische Database Nederlandse Gemeenten (HDNG) and provincial tax reports (1882–1885). Petition data are derived from the 1878 anti-secular education petition. postreform.dta (Candidate × District × Election, 1897–1913) — Used to study the effects of the 1896 franchise reform on party competition and electoral success. Contains candidate outcomes (elected/not), party affiliation, and district-level enfranchisement rates from the Huygens election records, supplemented with noble and incumbency information from the Adelsboek and historical parliamentary lists.