Comparative Political Parties Data, 1950-1962

This data collection contains the observed characteristics of 158 diverse political parties operating in 53 countries between 1950 and 1962. The variables consist of both substantive coding of party characteristics and data quality measures. A base of 111 variables place party characteristics in a conceptual framework of 11 categories: institutionalization, governmental status, social attraction, social concentration, social reflection, issue orientation, goal orientation, autonomy, degree of organization, centralization of power, coherence, and involvement. Every variable that was coded was selected because of its relevance to a concept in the framework. The remaining variables are derived measures of the quality of those data.