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Measuring National Delegate Positions at the Convention on the Future of Europe Using Computerized Word Scoring

Author

Listed:
  • Kenneth Benoit

    (Trinity College Dublin, Republic of Ireland, kbenoit@tcd.ie)

  • Michael Laver

    (New York University, USA, ml127@nyu.edu)

  • Christine Arnold

    (Free University, The Netherlands, c.arnold@fsw.vu.nl)

  • Paul Pennings

    (Free University, The Netherlands, pjm.pennings@fsw.vu.nl)

  • Madeleine O. Hosli

    (Leiden University, The Netherlands, hosli@fsw.leidenuniv.nl)

Abstract

The Convention on the Future of Europe that led to the eventual drafting of an EU Constitution involved numerous political actors from many countries. Their negotiations over the constitution generated a huge volume of texts containing substantive information about their preferences for EU institutional and political outcomes. In this paper, we attempt to measure these preferences at the national party level by analysing the Convention texts using the computerized ‘word-scoring’ method for text analysis (Laver et al., 2003). For each national party whose delegates’ texts were recorded at the Convention, we estimate their positions on four political dimensions. We then test the validity of these estimates by comparing them with measures of national party positions on EU policy dimensions obtained through an extensive expert survey undertaken in 27 countries (the EU 25 plus Turkey and Romania). Our results show strong evidence that the word-scoring method is broadly successful in reconstructing the map of national party preferences for and against a more centralized and more powerful Europe as expressed through the Convention texts.

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth Benoit & Michael Laver & Christine Arnold & Paul Pennings & Madeleine O. Hosli, 2005. "Measuring National Delegate Positions at the Convention on the Future of Europe Using Computerized Word Scoring," European Union Politics, , vol. 6(3), pages 291-313, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:6:y:2005:i:3:p:291-313
    DOI: 10.1177/1465116505054834
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marks, Gary & Wilson, Carole J., 2000. "The Past in the Present: A Cleavage Theory of Party Response to European Integration," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 30(3), pages 433-459, July.
    2. Laver, Michael & Benoit, Kenneth & Garry, John, 2003. "Extracting Policy Positions from Political Texts Using Words as Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 97(2), pages 311-331, May.
    3. Paul Pennings, 2002. "The Dimensionality of the EU Policy Space," European Union Politics, , vol. 3(1), pages 59-80, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Oliver Treib, 2010. "Party Politics, National Interests and Government—Opposition Dynamics," European Union Politics, , vol. 11(1), pages 119-142, March.
    2. Simon Hug & Tobias Schulz, 2007. "Referendums in the EU’s constitution building process," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 177-218, June.
    3. Paul Pennings & Christine Arnold, 2008. "Is Constitutional Politics like Politics ‘At Home’? The Case of the EU Constitution," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 56(4), pages 789-806, December.
    4. Heike Klüver, 2009. "Measuring Interest Group Influence Using Quantitative Text Analysis," European Union Politics, , vol. 10(4), pages 535-549, December.
    5. Sebnem Cansun & Engin Arik, 2018. "Political science publications about Turkey," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(1), pages 169-188, April.
    6. Thomas König & Daniel Finke, 2007. "Reforming the equilibrium? Veto players and policy change in the European constitution-building process," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 2(2), pages 153-176, June.
    7. Eric S. Nguyen, 2008. "Drivers and Brakemen," European Union Politics, , vol. 9(2), pages 269-293, June.
    8. Michael Evans & Wayne McIntosh & Jimmy Lin & Cynthia Cates, 2007. "Recounting the Courts? Applying Automated Content Analysis to Enhance Empirical Legal Research," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(4), pages 1007-1039, December.

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