Social cleuvages. / dictatorships

Social Cleavages

Divisions within society, such as class or religion, that impact the formation and number of political parties.

Maurice Duverger

A French political scientist known for his theory on the relationship between social cleavages and the number of political parties.

Cross-Cutting Cleavages

Occur when social categories are uncorrelated, allowing for multiple dimensions of identity to coexist and generally supporting a multiparty system.

Reinforcing Cleavages

Happen when social categories are correlated, limiting the dimensions of identity, leading to diminished representation and often a two-party system.

Mechanical Effect of Electoral Laws

Describes how votes are converted into legislative seats, often disadvantaging smaller parties and favoring larger ones in nonproportional systems.

Single-Member District Plurality (SMDP)

A nonproportional electoral system where only the candidate with the most votes wins, effectively nullifying the votes for losing candidates.

Strategic Effect of Electoral Laws

Refers to voter and political elite behavior prompted by electoral laws, such as strategic voting or strategic entry.

Strategic Voting

Voters often choose candidates perceived as likely to win, rather than their most preferred candidates, in response to mechanical disadvantages faced by smaller parties.

Duverger's Law

States that single-member district plurality (SMDP) electoral systems tend to favor two-party systems.

Duverger's Hypothesis

Suggests that proportional representation electoral