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UK OC OK? Interpreting Optimal Classification Scores for the U.K. House of Commons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2017

Arthur Spirling  and
Iain McLean
Arthur Spirling
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Rochester, NY 14627. e-mail: spln@mail.rochester.edu (corresponding author)
Iain McLean
Affiliation:
Nuffield College, Oxford University, Oxford OX1 1NF, United Kingdom. e-mail: iain.mclean@nuffield.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

Poole's (2000, Non-parametric unfolding of binary choice data. Political Analysis 8:211–37) nonparametric Optimal Classification procedure for binary data produces misleading rank orderings when applied to the modern House of Commons. With simulations and qualitative evidence, we show that the problem arises from the government-versus-opposition nature of British (Westminster) parliamentary politics and the strategic voting that is entailed therein. We suggest that political scientists think seriously about strategic voting in legislatures when interpreting results from such techniques.

Type
Research Article
Information
Political Analysis , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , Winter 2007 , pp. 85 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Political Methodology 

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