Electoral competition explained

Electoral competition, political competition or electoral competitiveness describes the amount of competition in electoral politics between candidates or political parties, usually measured by the margin of victory.^[1] The Polity data series includes a measure of political competition.^[2] Political competitiveness can be affected by the proportionality between votes and seats, which can be represented by Gallagher index.

Effect on corruption

Political competitiveness can affect the level of political corruption.^[3]

By country

In American federal elections, races for U.S. Senate tend to be more competitive than those for U.S. House of Representatives.^[4] Even in wave election years, the vast majority of U.S. House members keep their seats, with little pressure from the opposing party.^[5] Competition in U.S. House races has been in decline since at least the 1960s.^[6]

See also

• Effective number of parties
• Nomination rules
• Median voter theorem
• Marketplace of ideas
• Lesser of two evils principle

Notes and References

1. Klarner. Carl. Berry. William. Carsey. Thomas. Jewell. Malcolm. Niemi. Richard. Powell. Lynda. Snyder. James. 2013. State Legislative Election Returns (1967-2010). 10.3886/ICPSR34297.v1.
2. https://www.systemicpeace.org/inscr/p5manualv2018.pdf Marshall, Monty G., and Ted Robert Gurr. "Polity5: Political regime characteristics and transitions, 1800-2018." Center for Systemic Peace 2 (2020).
3. Alfano . Maria Rosaria . Baraldi . Anna Laura . Cantabene . Claudia . The role of political competition in the link between electoral systems and corruption: The Italian case . The Journal of Socio-Economics . 47 . 2013 . 10.1016/j.socec.2013.07.005 . 1–10.
4. Nice. David. 1984. Competitiveness in house and senate elections with identical constituencies. Political Behavior. 6. 1. 95–102. 10.1007/BF00988231. 154349012 .
5. Web site: 2012-07-25. How Do We Make Elections More Competitive?. Prospect.org. 2017-04-03.
6. Abramowitz. Alan I. Alexander. Brad. Gunning. Matthew. 2006. Incumbency, Redistricting, and the Decline of Competition in the U.S. House Elections. The Journal of Politics. 68. 1. 75–88. 10.1.1.177.798. 10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00371.x. 18783205 .