For a given electoral system, what average number and sizes of parties and government duration can we expect? Predicting Party Sizes is the first book to make specific predictions that agree with world averages. The basic factors are the numbers of seats in the assembly and in the average electoral district. While previous models tell us only the direction in which to change the electoral system, the present ones also tell us by how much they must be changed so as to obtain the desired change in average number of parties and cabinet duration. Hence, combined with known particularities of a country, they can be used for informed institutional design.The book is useful to three types of readers: political science students learning the basics of electoral systems and their political consequences; practitioners of politics who consider changing the electoral laws; and researchers intent on connecting electoral and party systems. The book is structured accordingly. Chapters start with advice and recipes for practicing politicians, in non-technical language. The main text gives students an overview of electoral systems, worldwide, and supplies evidence for models that tie simple electoral systems (First-Past-The-Post and List Proportional Representation) to the number and sizes of parties and government duration. Chapter appendices present derivations of these models and other more technical issues of interest to researchers.

Predicting Party Sizes: The Logic of Simple Electoral Systems

Politics & Social Sciences

Taagepera, Rein

Politics & Government

Oxford University Press

In his challenging new book Rein Taagepera argues that society needs more from social sciences than they have delivered. One reason for falling short is that social sciences have depended excessively on regression and other statistical approaches, neglecting logical model building. Science is not only about the empirical 'What is?' but also very much about the conceptual 'How should it be on logical grounds?' Statistical approaches are essentially descriptive, while quantitatively formulated logical models are predictive in an explanatory way. Making Social Sciences More Scientific contrasts the predominance of statistics in today's social sciences and predominance of quantitatively predictive logical models in physics. It shows how to construct predictive models and gives social science examples. Making Social Sciences More Scientific is useful to students who wish to learn the basics of the scientific method and to all those researchers who look for ways to do better social science.

Making Social Sciences More Scientific: The Need for Predictive Models

Social Sciences

Estonia: Return To Independence

History

Europe

Routledge

In this updated edition of their renowned The Baltic States, Romuald Misiunas and Rein Taagepera bring the story of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia up to the 1990s. The authors describe and analyze how the Baltic nations survived fifty years of social disruption, language discrimination, and Russian colonialism. The nations' histories are fully integrated and compared, and some notable differences between them are pointed out.With two new chapters, a revised preface, and an appendix on the end of Soviet domination, this expanded study covers a tumultuous period of political, economic, cultural, and ecological reform.

The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940-80

Misiunas, Romuald J.

Univ. Of California Pr.

In this updated edition of their renowned The Baltic States, Romuald Misiunas and Rein Taagepera bring the story of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia up to the 1990s. The authors describe and analyze how the Baltic nations survived fifty years of social disruption, language discrimination, and Russian colonialism. The nations' histories are fully integrated and compared, and some notable differences between them are pointed out. With two new chapters, a revised preface, and an appendix on the end of Soviet domination, this expanded study covers a tumultuous period of political, economic, cultural, and ecological reform.

The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940-1990

Misiunas, Romuald

University of California Press

After breaking free from the Bolsheviks in 1918, Estonia enjoyed independence until 1940, when the country was subsumed by the Soviet Union. Not until 1991 was Estonia able to make its next successful bid for sovereignty. In this book, Rein Taagepera traces the evolution of Estonia from prehistory to the present, when a radical turn of events in the former Soviet Union once again altered the destiny of this Baltic nation.The author explores in depth the remarkable changes in Estonia since 1980, framing his analysis within the larger picture of the Soviet Union and its demise. He also examines the issue of ethnic tensions between Estonians and Russian colonists and speculates on how unrest will affect the future of the country. Throughout his analysis, the author weaves in such key questions as: Why did Sovietization fail? How did Estonia's quest for autonomy affect Soviet dissolution? What role will the country play on the global stage? What will Estonia's future hold?

Estonia: Return To Independence (Westview Series on the Post-Soviet Republics)

Westview Press

After breaking free from the Bolsheviks in 1918, Estonia enjoyed independence until 1940 when the country was subsumed by the Soviet Union. Not until 1991 was Estonia able to make its next successful bid for sovereignty. In this book, Rein Taagepera traces the evolution of Estonia from prehistory to the present, when a radical turn of events in the former Soviet Union once again altered the destiny of this Baltic nation. The author explores in depth the remarkable changes in Estonia since 1980, framing his analysis within the larger picture of the Soviet Union and its demise. He also examines the issue of ethnic tensions between Estonians and Russian colonists and speculates on how unrest will affect the future of the country. Throughout his analysis, the author weaves in such key questions as: Why did Sovietization fail? How did Estonia’s quest for autonomy affect Soviet dissolution? What role will the country play on the global stage? What will Estonia’s future hold?

Examines the case of Soviet Estonian chemistry professor Juri Kukk, who died in prison three years after resigning from the Communist party. The author hypothesizes that Kukk's story illustrates how the Soviet regime has lately become dangerously erratic by becoming more hesitant in its acts without becoming more liberal in its outlook.

Softening without Liberalization in the Soviet Union

Biographies & Memoirs

University Press of America

Softening without Liberalization in the Soviet Union: The Case of Juri Kukk

Historical Study & Educational Resources

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Taagepera, Rein. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Taagepera, Rein

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Taagepera, Rein. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Predicting Party Sizes: The Logic of Simple Electoral Systems

Making Social Sciences More Scientific: The Need for Predictive Models

Estonia: Return To Independence

The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940-80

The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940-1990

The Baltic States: Years of Dependence, 1940-1990

Estonia: Return To Independence (Westview Series on the Post-Soviet Republics)

Estonia: Return To Independence (Westview Series on the Post-Soviet Republics)

Softening without Liberalization in the Soviet Union

Softening without Liberalization in the Soviet Union: The Case of Juri Kukk