Project description

The Manifesto Project provides the scientific community with parties’ policy positions derived from a content analysis of parties’ electoral manifestos. It covers over 1000 parties from 1945 until today in over 50 countries on five continents. The DFG-funded MARPOR project continues the work of the Manifesto Research Group (MRG) and the Comparative Manifestos Project (CMP). On this website you find the Manifesto Project Dataset containing the parties' policy preferences generated by the project. You also find coded and uncoded election manifestos of the parties in the dataset as well as information and links to many applications for the dataset, related projects and publications etc.

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News

(2018-12-19) Job Offer Research Fellow

• We have a job offer for a new research fellow position starting in March 2020. You find the call here: https://www.wzb.eu/en/jobs/research-fellow-fmx (english PDF, german PDF). The application deadline is 27.01.2020. If you have always been wondering why a specific election is not coded quicker, if you always had great idea how to improve the data set or if you just like it, come and work with a great team in Berlin.

(2019-12-17) New Dataset Version 2019b

• Dataset version 2019b is now available. We added new observations, and corrected some errors. You can find all changes in the release notes. We also updated the South America Dataset to version 2019b - consult its release notes for all additions and changes. You can find both data sets and their release notes on the data > download page. This update comes along with a new version of the Manifesto Corpus.

(2019-08-27) New Dataset Version 2019a

• Dataset version 2019a is now available. We added new observations, changed the handling of the pervote/absseat variables for electoral alliances and their member parties, and corrected some errors. You can find all changes in the release notes. We also updated the South America Dataset to version 2019a - consult its release notes for all additions and changes. You can find both data sets and their release notes on the data > download page. This update comes along with a new version of the Manifesto Corpus.

(2019-06-01) Party Facts: Article published, various new datasets added (e.g. CSES, IPOD)

• Party Facts ("A Database of Political Parties Worldwide") links datasets on political parties and provides an online platform about parties and their history as recorded in social science datasets.
• MARPOR-Fellow Sven Regel and Holger Döring (@ParlGov) got their article published that describes the Party Facts project and its merits: Döring, Holger, and Sven Regel. 2019. “Party Facts: A Database of Political Parties Worldwide.” Party Politics 25(2): 97–109. doi:10.1177/1354068818820671
• Meanwhile ten new datasets have been integrated (especially through the hard work of Paul Bederke) into Party Facts (additional to the 26 datasets (incl. Manifesto Project) already mentioned in the article). Among others these are the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) and the Integrated Party Organization Dataset (IPOD).

(2019-04-24) Job announcement

• We are hiring up to three student assistants in Berlin. You find the call here: german (PDF) or english (PDF). Deadline is the 22nd of May.

(2018-12-21) New Dataset Version 2018b

• Dataset version 2018b is now available. We added new observations and corrected some errors. You can find all changes in the release notes. We also updated the South America Dataset to version 2018b - consult its release notes for all additions and changes. You can find both data sets and their release notes on the data > download page. This update comes along with a new version of the Manifesto Corpus.

(2018-10-10) Call for Papers: Manifesto Project User Conference (7-8 March 2019)

• The Manifesto Project team invites users of the Manifesto Dataset to submit abstracts and papers for a conference on 7-8 March 2019 at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center in Berlin, Germany. The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars using the Manifesto Dataset and/or the Manifesto Corpus and to foster a dialogue between users and the core team. The conference offers participants the opportunity to present current projects using Manifesto Project data.
• The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 18 November 2018.
• Please find more information in the call for papers on the Manifesto Project User Conference 2019 website and/or in the Call-PDF.

(2018-09-05) Job offer PhD student

• We have a job offer for a new PhD student starting in November 2018. You find the call here: https://www.wzb.eu/en/jobs/research-assistant (english PDF, german PDF). The application deadline is 30.09.2018. If you have always been wondering why a specific election is not coded quicker, if you always had great idea how to improve the data set or if you just like it, come and work with a great team in Berlin.

(2018-07-19) New Dataset Version 2018a

• Dataset version 2018a is now available. We added new observations and corrected some errors. You can find all changes in the release notes. We also updated the South America Dataset to version 2018a - consult the release notes for all additions and changes. You can find both data sets and their release notes on the data > download page. This update comes along with a new version of the Manifesto Corpus which also contains about 50 new digitalized handwritten codings from the past.

(2018-04-25) Tutorial series

• We start to release a number of tutorials on how to use the Manifesto Project Dataset and the Manifesto Corpus. You can find all tutorials by clicking on the "Tutorials" item in the navigation bar above.

(2018-02-23) Corpus Conference Wrap-up: Best Paper Award Winners

• For the first time, we awarded a best paper award at one of our conferences: the Manifesto Corpus Conference Best Paper Award worth 1,000 EUR. The prize was split and awarded to Jae-Hee Jung (Washington University, St. Louis) for "The Mobilizing Effect of Parties' Moral Rhetoric" and Stefan Müller (Trinity College Dublin) for "Prospective and Retrospective Salience".

(2018-01-26) Server problems solved - website up and running.

• We were having major problems with our server during the last two weeks. As you can see, these are solved now. If you are still facing problems, do not hesitate to contact us via manifesto-communication@wzb.eu. Sorry for the inconvenience.

(2017-12-18) New Dataset Version 2017b

• Dataset version 2017b is now available. We added new observations and corrected some errors. You can find all changes in the release notes. We also updated the South America Dataset to version 2017b - consult the release notes for all additions and changes. You can find both data sets and their release notes on the data > download page. This update comes along with a new version of the Manifesto Corpus.

(2017-11-24) Manifesto Corpus Conference Program Online

• We are happy to announce that we have finalized the program for our 2018 Manifesto Corpus Conference.
• Please find the program and further information (also regarding free registration for non-presenters) on the Manifesto Corpus Conference website.

(2017-09-04) Call for Papers: Manifesto Corpus Conference (1-2 February 2018)

• The Manifesto Project Team is organizing a conference on the Manifesto Corpus seeking submissions making use or applying the Manifesto Corpus.
• The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 2 October 2017.
• The best work presented at the conference will receive the Manifesto Corpus Award (dotted with 1,000€).
• Please find more information in the call for papers on the Manifesto Corpus Conference website.

(2017-08-18) New Dataset Version 2017a, DOIs, dataset version comparison dashboard, and change in MARPOR directorship

• Dataset version 2017a is now available. We added new observations and corrected some errors. You can find all changes in the release notes. We also updated the South America Dataset to version 2017a - consult the release notes for all additions and changes. You can find both data sets on the data > download page.
• All versions of the Manifesto Project Dataset are now acecssible permanently via digital object identifiers (DOI). The doi link to the current version of the main dataset: https://doi.org/10.25522/manifesto.mpds.2017a. Doi-links are also available for older versions of the dataset on our website. When using the new dataset, please also update the entry in your literature managment software by using the respective files on our website which also include the doi. Including the doi in the citation ensures that people can find the data and enhances the transparency of your research.
• We finished a new dashboard that indicates changes between different versions of the main dataset. The dashboard will not replace the release notes of the dataset, but complement them. The dashboard allows to identify the exact changes between two versions of the dataset. It illustrates additions, removals and changes in the data. We always recommend to use the most recent version of the dataset. However, sometimes scholars start doing an analysis with one version of the dataset that becomes outdated while working on their research project. The dashboard facilitates to identify whether the more recent version of the dataset contains substantial changes compared to the older version and should encourage users to use more recent data even for on-going projects. The dashboard is still in a beta state. You can find it here: https://visuals.manifesto-project.wzb.eu/mpdb-shiny/cmp_dashboard_dataset_version/
• Andrea Volkens handed over the directorship of MARPOR to Bernhard Weßels. She continues to work for MARPOR.

(2016-12-21) New Dataset Version 2016b

• Dataset version 2016b is now available. We added new observations, corrected errors and added some new variables. Check out all changes in the release notes.
• We also updated our dataset on the South American countries. Check out all changes in the release notes.

(2016-11-18) manifestata - our new stata add-on for the Manifesto Project Data and Corpus

• We are happy to announce the release of manifestata - our stata add-on to access and process the Manifesto Project Dataset and the Manifesto Corpus. manifestata is for Stata what manifestoR is for R. manifestata is the result of a cooperation with Alejandro Ecker from MZES, Mannheim.

(2016-07-22) Society for Political Methodology's 2016 Statistical Software Award

• We are happy to announce that Jirka, Sven, Pola and Nicolas won the Statistical Software Award 2016 of the Society for Political Methodology for manifestoR and the manifesto API. The Society for Political Methodology is the Methodological Section of the American Political Science Association.

(2016-06-09) Berlin Digital Humanities Prize 2016

• We are happy to announce that the team of the Manifesto Corpus won the Berlin Digital Humanities Prize 2016. The prize is sponsored by the interdisciplinary research network on digital humanities Berlin. Find more details and pictures from the ceremony here.

(2016-05-26) New Dataset Version 2016a

• Dataset version 2016a is now available. We added many new observations, corrected some errors and even added some new variables. Check out all changes in the release notes.

(2016-02-05) Article published on the Manifesto Corpus

• Have a look at our new article with the title "The Manifesto Corpus: A new resource for research on political parties and quantitative text analysis".
• The article is published in the peer-reviewd open-access journal Research & Politics. It announces the Manifesto Corpus and illustrates potential applications for substantive research.

(2016-03-22) New Version of R package manifestoR and Manifesto Corpus released

• Since today, a new version (1.2) of our R package manifestoR is downloadable from CRAN. It adds accessibility to the Manifesto Project's South America Dataset and several other features, which are documented in the ChangeLog. Also, the Manifesto Corpus Version 2016-2 was released in parallel, containing the coded manifestos for all our South America Observations. For full and easy access to these documents, manifestoR version 1.2 is required!

(2015-12-10) Successful extension of MARPOR funding (2016-2019)

• We received the confirmation that the funding of MARPOR by the German Research Association (DFG) will be extended by three more years from 2016 to 2019.

(2015-11-19) Release of next update

• We currently do not plan to release an updated version of the dataset within this year. Only little data is currently ready and it is not worth to create a new version of the dataset. We will code some more data and bundle for an update in the first half of 2016. This update will then also include data for the UK General elections of 2015.

(2015-10-02) Job announcement

• We are hiring up to three student assistants in Berlin. See the job announcement on the WZB website (in german or english). Deadline is the 12th of October.

(2015-09-11) We are now on twitter.

• @manifesto_proj announces new versions and corrections of the dataset and keeps you up to date on research using manifesto data.

(2015-09-11) Small updates to the website

• We slightly restructured the website and added some new content. We will continue to improve the website in the future. Let us know if you have problems or comments.

(2015-09-10) What happened during the last months...

• Coded manifestos available through the Manifesto Corpus: The Corpus publishes the digital codings on the quasi-sentence level the project has produced since 2009. It allows users to verify and check our codings, recode the data for their own purposes, create new subcategories, use them for automatic analysis, etc.

• Release of manifestoR: an R packages facilitating use and access of the Manifesto Project Data.

• Update 2015a available: It is the first dataset that reports data coded on the basis of the new category scheme. Check Version 5 of the coding instructions to learn more about the new category scheme. For everyone doing over time comparisons the dataset also reports the data aggregated into the old category scheme.

• First data from South American countries published: This new dataset will provide data on South American parties and presidential candidates. So far it contains data from Argentina, Brazil and Chile, more countries and elections will follow.

Tweets (@manifesto_proj)

 1814

  2020-02-06   13    5

It's been a while, but today is #tutorialthursday again!

In our new tutorial, you can learn how to recode and extend our coding scheme with self-defined categories: https://manifesto-project.wzb.eu/tutorials/recoding

Written by: @tionde_lisa and Paul Muscat  https://t.co/XL7sdnQ885

  2020-01-13   9    4

Two more weeks to apply and to become a member of our team!

👇👇👇 https://twitter.com/manifesto_proj/status/1207569341346189312

  2019-12-23   29    6

Christmas gift from us: We released new versions of our datasets (2019b)!

We added six elections: BR 2018, DK 2015, FI 2015, IS 2017, LV 2018, NO 2017.

Happy holidays and have fun with the data!

Check out: https://manifesto-project.wzb.eu/datasets

  2019-12-19   15    21

We have an open research fellow position for 2 years!

Start Date: 1 March 2020

Perfect for preparing or completing a dissertation in the research areas of elections, parties, or representation.

Application Deadline: 27 January 2020

https://wzb.eu/en/jobs/research-fellow-fmx

  2019-11-22   6    2

Attention: [2019-11-21] Our server (website and api) will be down due to power cutoff from tomorrow (the 22nd) 5pm (MEZ) for (hopefully) maximum 72 hours. Sorry for the inconvenience.  https://t.co/ZPJhKxuF58

  2019-11-07   8    0

What are the programmatic success strategies of radical left parties in Western Europe? And how do the positions of Social Democrats influence these strategies?

Our research fellow @krause_we investigates these questions in his freshly published @WEPsocial article.

👇👇👇 https://twitter.com/krause_we/status/1192010527645585409

  2019-11-07   5    3

Using @manifesto_proj data, @pstanig and Italo Colantone investigate how economic shocks can explain the surge of radical-right parties and how this relates to the cultural backlash hypothesis!

Out in the Journal of Economic Perspectives @AEAjournals

https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.33.4.128  https://t.co/aaY8yEx1Qg

  2019-09-30   19    5

Do political parties programmatically respond to the electoral success of radical right parties beyond immigration?

Our fellow @krause_we shows that this indeed the cases: Left parties promote more generous welfare positions.

Read the article here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00344893.2019.1661871  https://t.co/1WYkgfTwPR

  2019-09-02   38    11

New Data!

Check out our homepage (https://manifesto-project.wzb.eu/) and the release notes (https://manifesto-project.wzb.eu/down/data/2019a/codebooks/release_notes_MPDS2019a.pdf) for more information.

Added elections: SWE 2019 ISL 2016 BEL 2014 ITA 2018 NZL 2017 TUR 2018 LTU 2016 MKD 2016 SVN 2016

  2019-07-23   14    2

Great news! Congratulations! Looking forward to having one of our Steering Group members so close by. 👏 https://twitter.com/ThomasMMeyer/status/1153345373768945665

  2019-06-26   64    44

The @nytimes uses @manifesto_proj data to show how the positions of Republicans and Democrats evolved over time. Strikingly, the Republican Party under Trump is on a par with some West European radical right parties according to its programmatic profile.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/26/opinion/sunday/republican-platform-far-right.html

  2019-04-18   6    0

Using @manifesto_proj data, @ThomasMMeyer and Alejandro Ecker investigate how political parties divide coalition payoffs in multiparty governments.
Published in Public Choice: http://rdcu.be/bvlej

See @ThomasMMeyer's great thread summing up the article.

👇👇👇 https://twitter.com/ThomasMMeyer/status/1115172721804107783

  2019-04-11   3    0

Noch keine Pläne für Freitag Abend? Wir hätten da was: Erst Wissenschaft, dann Party! https://twitter.com/WZB_Democracy/status/1116383709693919233

  2019-04-04   0    0

Our server (website and API) will be down for maintenance on the 8th of April for a maximum of 3 days. Sorry for the inconvenience.

  2019-03-28   11    6

Using @manifesto_proj data, @MarcHooghe, @r_dassonneville & @jennifer_oser examine the responsiveness of parliaments and governments to public opinion. With interesting implications for redistributive policies in 21 OECD countries. https://twitter.com/PolStudies/status/1110187151692582912

  2019-03-18   18    5

How are election programmes implemented in coalition agreements? @HeikeKluever and @HannaEBack contribute to this question by using a new data set based on a comprehensive content analysis of government agreements and @manifesto_proj data.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0010414019830726  https://t.co/4SutlxBMtF

  2019-03-07   25    2

The Manifesto Project User Conference is starting today! We look forward too exciting presentations and discussions on Computerized Text Analysis, Populism, Party Ideology and much more! Check out: https://tinyurl.com/yy82r2kl #manifestoconf

  2019-02-11   7    4

Does party system dimensionality affect voters’ satisfaction with democracy? @inert_emergence and @bpberta answer this question in their new article using @manifesto_proj and @ESS_Survey data: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1354068818823687

  2019-01-31   7    5

For all lovers of #rstats (and those who want to become one): check this out! https://twitter.com/DToshkov/status/1090902742355329024

  2019-01-17   0    0

Our server (website and api) will be down for maintenance on the 19th, 20th or 21st for maximum 24 hours. Sorry for the inconvenience.

  2019-01-14   30    22

Check out this new database where MARPOR-Fellow Sven Regel and Holger Döring (@ParlGov) gather all important informations from 26 datasets (including @manifesto_proj) about political parties. http://partyfacts.org https://twitter.com/MattGrossmann/status/1083560158431723520

  2018-12-21   19    7

Christmas present #2: the newest version of our data set (2018b) is out now! We are off for the Christmas break - happy holidays and have fun with the data! https://manifesto-project.wzb.eu/datasets

  2018-12-20   7    4

Christmas Present #1:
The (preliminary) program for our Manifesto Project User Conference 2019 is now online. Check it out and register until February 25th: https://manifesto-project.wzb.eu/conference-2019

Citation

If you use any of the data you find on this website, please cite us. You find the correct citation for all datasets on all download pages. If you use the documents, please cite the Manifesto Corpus.