MUCH OF PARTY POLITICS centers around political issues, and a comparative analysis of party politics must determine the parties' positions on issues with cross-national significance. This is far easier said than done, for there are at least five difficult conceptual problems that complicate the comparative study of issue orientation. These problems deal with (1) selecting issues for analysis, (2) formulating a consistent framework for handling pro-con positions on issues, (3) deciding between an "absolutist" or "relativist" basis for scoring positions on issues, (4) distinguishing between issue consensus and issue irrelevancy, and (5) handling discrepancies between party program and party practice. Each of these problems will be discussed in turn before discussing the conceptual basis and presenting the operational definitions prepared for the basic variables in this variable cluster. (From Janda, 1980: pp. 53-54; see for discussion of these five problems.) . . .

We thus treat party program as being equal importance with party practice in our operationalization of issue orientation, allowing for inconsistencies between program and practice to average into an intermediate score. Scores are assigned to parties as they are positively or negatively oriented toward (favor or oppose) the issue in question (see Table 6.1).

Table 6.1: Scheme for Coding Party Program and Practice
Party's position in practice is	Party's position as stated in its program is
	Weak	Moderate	Strong
Weak	± 1	± 2	± 3
Moderate	± 2	± 3	± 4
Strong	± 3	± 4	± 5

If the literature refers to either the program or the practice of the party and it notes no difference between the two, they are assumed to be equivalent and the party is scored along the diagonal (± 1, ± 3, or ± 5). Given a stated discrepancy between the two, the party is scored from the appropriate cell off the diagonal. In the extreme case of a difference in sign between program and practice, the party is assigned the mean score, observing negative and positive signs. (Janda, p. 54)

This basic scoring matrix was applied to thirteen issues selected for inclusion in our "issue orientation" cluster:

In general, the underlying principle for fixing the pro and con positions on each of these issues was to link the pro position with greater governmental activity in the issue area, interpreted as the leftist response and (arbitrarily) assigned positive scale scores to a maximum of +5. It follows that parties opposed to greater governmental activity in the issue area were regarded as rightist and assigned negative scale scores to a maximum of -5. It remains to be determined whether our arbitrary assignment of left and right positions on these issues is consistent with the empirical relationships among the data.

[There are also] two sets of "expert" ratings of party left-right orientation. The first set, which is variable 5.14 in our study, comes from the U.S. Department of State; the second set, which is variable 5.15, comes from experts in the U.S.S.R. (Janda, p. 55)

5.14	State Department Left-Right Rating
5.15	Soviet Expert Left-Right Rating

The "means of production" is defined as the operative capacity to manufacture, construct, fabricate, grow, or otherwise produce goods to be marketed domestically or exported. Our interest in means of production is largely limited to "basic industries"--those that produce capital goods for use in production (e.g., lumber, mining, steel) or furnish services that are essential to an industrial economy (e.g., communications, transportation, and utilities). In our conceptualization, "ownership" differs from "control" mainly in degree. A party that advocates government ownership of the means of production is considered to have a stronger position on this issue than does one that advocates government control of privately owned means of production.

This variable must be kept distinct from the next, "government role in economic planning." Government ownership of the means of production should not be assumed when encountering references to "central economic control and direction," which pertain to operationalizing BV502 instead.

Conceptually, the party with a strong pro position on this issue is thought to reflect the classic Marxist position as represented in the Communist Manifesto: "The proletariat will use its political supremacy . . . to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state." Distinctions are drawn among those parties that seek something less than this with respect to basic industries.

Operational Definitions. The issue orientation scoring matrix is used with "weak," "moderate," and "strong" positions on both sides of the issue as defined below and scored assuming no conflict between program and practice.

PRO-strong	5	Strongly favors government ownership; advocates government ownership of all basic industries; advocates government ownership of means of production generally.
PRO-moderate	3	Favors government ownership; advocates government ownership of some basic industries but not all; advocates acquiring some industry not currently under government ownership.
PRO-weak	1	Accepts some government ownership but mainly favors more government regulation; advocates active regulation of production and marketing activities of basic industries; advocates stronger regulation.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Accepts some government ownership; opposes ownership spreading to all basic industries; opposes government acquisition of a given industry not under government ownership; accepts current government regulations.
CON-moderate	-3	Opposes government ownership; opposes ownership in principle for any basic industry; advocates returning a given government-owned industry to private ownership; advocates weaker regulations.
CON-strong	-5	Strongly opposes government ownership; opposes even government regulation of production and marketing activities of industries other than minimal requirements for health, safety, and honesty; urges repeal of current regulations.

The rate of economic growth as an object of concern throughout the world has generated intense controversy in many countries over the effect on economic development of state economic planning versus decentralized entrepreneurship. The economist Paul Baran has described how the idea of collective effort, which advances the interests of society in general over the interests of the selected few (1957, p. 97), has become the prevailing point of view in much of the world. Yet the desire to achieve dramatic increases in the standard of living, as well as to maximize the public good through collective direction of the segmental development of the economy, must be balanced against the inevitable threat to political liberties implicit in the accretion of governmental power. The "economic planning" variable attempts to assess a party's response to this apparent dilemma.

The salient dimension in the measurement of a party's attitude toward this issue is its posture vis-a-vis centralization of economic decision making. At most, the ethos of state planning may require the taking of all economic decisions by the state; at the very least, the party favoring some government action may support minimal state intervention to encourage functional coordination or to influence the overall level of economic activity. Partisan opposition to the concentration of decision-making authority in the institutions of the state, on the other hand, may extend from resistance to a maximum level of government control to a posture of opposition to centralized direction of any sort. Parties that take the latter conservative position, however, are likely to be amenable to, if not desirous of, state action to ensure the protection of vested property rights and certain commercial interests. This departure from pristine laissez-faire is not interpreted as movement away from an extreme stance on this issue.

Operational Definition. The usual matrix is used, with pro-con positions of varying intensity defined as follows:

PRO-strong	5	Advocates government prescription of the level and nature of resource allocation, commodity production and distribution; often represented by the promulgation of "five year plans" and the like.
PRO-moderate	3	Favors an active government role in the development or constriction of sectors of the economy (e.g., restriction of capital movements, subsidization of particular industries or regions); advocates measures that involve the government in these activities.
PRO-weak	1	Favors government encouragement of productive activity through exhortation and/or minor alteration of the economic environment (e.g., changing the tax structure or money supply to influence economic activity).
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Opposes government prescription for the overall economy through state direction of capital, resource, and commodity movements; accepts present extent of government involvement in economic planning.
CON-moderate	-3	Opposes an active government role in planning or regulating the development of sectors of the economy; opposes such measures; urges government withdrawal from planning.
CON-strong	-5	Opposes government interference in the natural development of the economy, with the possible exception of state action to protect private property rights or certain vested commercial interests.

Distribution of wealth can be viewed "horizontally"--in the sense of distribution between industries, occupations, districts, or religions--and "vertically"-- in the sense of equalization of income regardless of social categories, that is, differences between "rich " and "poor." Our variable is concerned with vertical distribution. Since socialism and communism are characterized by an attempt to equalize the distribution of wealth, the leftist end of the continuum consists of the most severe attempts at transferring a nation's wealth vertically, from the rich to the poor. In many states characterized by an unequal distribution of wealth, a party's position toward government activity in redistributing wealth is a good measure of the party's attitude toward equality of distribution. A position that favors no government activity at all, however, does not anchor the rightist end of the continuum, because it is at least theoretically possible for a party to favor redistribution from the poor to the rich.

Operational Definition. The pro and con positions are as follows:

PRO-strong	5	Advocates severe vertical redistribution from rich to poor; suggestions for major land reforms and equalization of all incomes should be included in this category; demands that redistribution be immediate. Combined seizure and redistribution by government
PRO-moderate	3	Advocates a major redistribution of wealth which is not as severe as abolition of personal property or major land reform, but is more severe a vertical redistribution than an income or property tax. A redistribution plan over time would be included in thi
PRO-weak	1	Advocates graduated income tax and/or graduated personal property tax.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Opposes the enactment of new legislation, such as higher progressive taxation rates, that would erode the differences between rich and poor accepts legislation now in effect.
CON-moderate	-3	Accepts government inactivity wealth redistribution in a country features extreme inequalities wealth.
CON-strong	-5	Urges new policies that would enhance the income acquiring capacity of the wealthy at the expense of the poor.

Looking at the United States, Canada, and Australia, Birth (1955) argues that welfare measures may be divided into two classes: (I) employment and health service insurance requires the payment of a premium by the insured individual, while public assistance is funded by public grant or philanthropy. Insurance payments are seen as compensation for loss, while public assistance is given to relieve a distress situation. Insurance payments are received as a matter of right and are fixed by regulation or statute, while public assistance is discretionary and based on means or needs. The Danish system is asserted to be a mix of these two approaches to providing for social welfare.

Operational Definition. While a number of specific classifications of welfare programs could have been prepared, the information in the files would not have upheld such refined coding. The following categories seek instead to accommodate a party's posture toward the general principle of government-supported welfare programs. The distinction between "universal" and "voluntary" welfare programs is paramount in this variable. Universal coverage involves compulsory participation in the sense of citizen cost-sharing through government exices (e.g., unemployment insurance, labor exchanges, training schemes, health insurance, and medical benefits, etc.) and (2) benefits for the elderly and the very young (e.g., old-age pensions, family allowances, maternity benefits, etc.). In his study of France, Friedlander (1962) makes a threefold division: (1) family allowances, social insurance, and pensions; (2) public assistance of a categorical and general nature provided locally to persons in economic or medical need; and (3) general public health measures.

The authors of Social Denmark (1945) make the distinction between insurance and public assistance. Insurance is payable only to a specified group--the insured--while public assistance is universally available. penditures--the essence of public assistance. Voluntary programs, on the other hand, are essentially insurance programs.

PRO-strong	5	Advocates or supports universally available social welfare through a compulsory program of public assistance, including aid to the poor, unemployed, aged, and including health care and medical benefits.
PRO-moderate	3	Contains a mixture of compulsory programs of public assistance and voluntary insurance programs that cover most or all of the above areas.
PRO-weak	1	Advocates voluntary assistance programs and generally opposed to compulsory public assistance, but favors some extension of programs to cover unprotected areas.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Accepts the existing government programs, but opposes extension of those programs to unprotected areas; certainly favors voluntary over compulsory programs.
CON-moderate	-3	Accepts a situation of government inactivity in developing social welfare programs; content to leave such programs to private resources.
CON-strong	-5	Advocates repeal of existing policies that promote social welfare programs; supports the reduction of program scope and coverage; prefers returning to a situation of government inactivity in these areas.

The debate over secularization can be characterized as derivative of what Lipset and Rokkan call "the conflict between the centralizing, standardizing, and mobilizing Nation-State and the historically established corporate privileges of the Church " (1967, pp . 15- 16) . Systematic attempts by secular parties "~o create direct links of influence and control between the nation-state and the individual citizen" are resisted by what the authors label "parties of religious defense." Such parties may arise wherever representatives of an institutionalized religion seek through political means to preserve or extend church control over the nature and distribution of values in a society.

The existence of an institutionalized church is essential if this variable is to assume any significance in a country. Thus the issue is blunted in India not only by the traditional Hindu recognition of the basic separation of religious and secular spheres of authority, but also by the fact, as Weiner has put it, that "since Hinduish has no church, the power of the Brahman was that of an individual rather than of an institution. He could hardly challenge the authority of secular society even if he chose to" (1960, p. 161). The Islamic tradition, by contrast, makes no distinction between religious and secular life. Hence, although "Indian and Ceylonese politicians continue to exploit Hinduism and Buddhism with little fear that an organized Hindu or Buddhist clergy or church will displace them. . ., Pakistani politicians must handle the religious issue with great care.... The Jamaat-i-lslami and other orthodox parties with ulama [religious leadership] support continue to press for the creation of an Islamic state . . ." (Weiner 1960, p. 162).

"Secularization" should be distinguished from "national integration," which, again following Lipset and Rokkan, can be defined as the issue variable generated by "the conflict between the central nation-building culture and the increasing resistance of the ethnically, linguistically, or religiously distinct subject populations in the provinces and the peripheries" (1967, p. 15). Complex and inbred cultural-behavioral syndromes such as the Indian caste system which are not derived from an institutionalized church are considered and coded as part of the "national integration" variable.

"Secularization" measures the party's posture vis-a-vis the privileges of the church. The range of attitudinal stances extends from support for government expropriation of church property and/or official discouragement of religious practice at one extreme to a desire to establish a state religion at the other. The latter orthodoxy may include hostile excesses against nonfavored religions which should not be confused with a position of general anticlericalism. Intermediate categories stress by degree the party's attitude toward state support, through assorted devices, of the instrumentalities of the church.

Operational Definition. Parties are coded via the usual matrix in accordance with their favoritism or opposition toward secularization or society.

PRO-strong	5	Advocates expropriation of church property and/or official discouragement of religious practice.
PRO-moderate	3	Advocates abolition of parochial educational systems or punitive (i.e., at unusually high rates) taxation of church property.
PRO-weak	1	Advocates removal of state aid to parochial schools, clergy, or church operations or taxation of church property at nonpunitive rates.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Takes generally benevolent attitude toward religion; advocates exemption of church property from taxation.
CON-moderate	-3	Advocates state monetary support of parochial schools, clergy, or church operations
CON-strong	-5	Advocates establishment of a state religion; imposes a system of laws based on religious prescription.

The military, in addition to their task of securing the national interest, independence, and integrity, may contribute toward the creation or perpetuation of a favorable national image. In developing countries, the armed forces tend to be valued for their role in the process of modernization--through training, construction, and, most importantly, their reliance on rational methods and modern technology. In advanced countries, the military establishment is generally prized as both a vehicle to national prestige and a vital factor in the calculus of international power. Against these functional properties, however, every state must weigh the dysfunctional consequences of the diversion of limited resources from the domestic to the national security sector. The formula developed by each party with respect to this problem is coded according to the operationalization in the following paragraphs.

The "military" is construed to include all national security forces directed toward the control or elimination of external or internal threats and under the command of the state--namely, land armies; air, sea, and marine forces; intelligence and customs services; police forces; and the like. We recognize that this conception of "military" obliterates the distinction between "internal" and "external" security. But "police" in some nations do such double duty, and the "armed forces" in others are occasionally mobilized to defend regimes against internal enemies.

Operational Definition. The following position classifications were used in applying the scoring matrix for issue orientation.

PRO-strong	5	Promilitary. Favors greater infusion of resources into armed forces or increase in expenditures to achieve pervasive security against perceived foreign or domestic enemies; military budget given priorities over domestic programs, with little questioning o
PRO-moderate	3	Promilitary. Generally supportive of requests for funds by the armed forces, but does not favor stepped up allocations of support to achieve goals at the expense of other pressing social problems .
PRO-weak	1	Does not argue in principle against support of armed forces and does not argue in principle for reductions in current expenditures, but military budget is not given preferential treatment in competition with domestic programs .
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Persistently criticizes armed forces expenditures under pressure from other pressing social needs; urges some reductions in military resources in the context of support for other programs.
CON-moderate	-3	Antimilitary. Argues in principle against large allocations of resources to armed forces; either favors cutbacks in military support or continued support at low levels.
CON-strong	-5	Antimilitary. Argues in principle against the maintenance of security forces greater than necessary to handle routine domestic police functions and patrol national boundaries; favors continuations of that situation if it exists.

To define this variable, it is useful to first define "neutralism," or "nonalignment," in the context of international politics between 1950 and 1962. According to Weiner these terms are used "loosely and interchangeably to refer to the desire of a majority of Afro-Asian nations to avoid military alliances with either side in the cold war" (1968, p. 166). Both this usage and Weiner's formal definition of neutrality, "a legal condition in which a country refrained from taking sides in a war between two or more belligerents," emphasize the military aspect of neutrality. U.S.S.R. /U.S. or East/ West alignment, too, is considered to be basically a militarily oriented variable, for economic and political ties between nations are measured in the "supranational integration" variable.

The East/West breakdown refers specifically to the bipolar international system that grew out of World War II and lasted through the 1950s. The United States is taken as the major bloc actor in the "West" and the U.S.S.R. and the major actor in the "East"--Communist China not yet claiming a leadership role of its own within the Eastern bloc. The nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Warsaw Pact are considered to be the major components of the Western and Eastern blocs respectively.

While formal military alliances and associated aid programs constitute alignment at the extreme, lesser degrees of alignment are possible. Parties reflect their inclinations in the international arena in a variety of ways. These can be as concrete as recommending the establishment or termination of diplomatic relations with countries in the rival blocs or as subtle as the selective dissemination of praise and criticism concerning the actions of bloc leaders. We try to capture these varying expressions of favoritism in our scoring along the alignment dimension.

Operational Definition. Parties are coded according to the same practice-program matrix used for all other variables in the issue orientation variable cluster. The pro position in this variable is alignment with the East; the con position is alignment with the West.

PRO-strong	5	Supports entering or maintaining formal military alliance with countries in the Eastern bloc.
PRO-moderate	3	Favors accepting military or economic aid, but does not advocate formal military alliance with the U.S.S.R.
PRO-weak	1	Party documents or spokesmen express favoritism toward the U.S.S.R. or opposition toward the United States, although the favoritism stops short of entering alliances or agreements with the U.S.S.R .
NEUTRAL	0	Eschews relations with either power or dispenses praise or blame toward both sides, without apparent prejudice, or accepts aid equally from both sides; advocates policy of neutralism, alliance with both sides.
CON-weak	-1	Party documents or spokesmen express favoritism toward the United States or opposition toward the U.S.S.R., but the favoritism stops short of urging alliances or acceptance of economic aid.
CON-moderate	-3	Favors accepting military or economic aid, but does not advocate formal military alliances with the United States; accepts alliance but urges rapprochement with U.S.S.R.
CON-strong	-5	Supports entering or maintaining formal military alliances with countries in the Western bloc.

Emerson defines "colonialism" as the "establishment and maintenance, for an extended period of time, of rule over an alien people that is separate from and subordinate to the ruling power" (1968, p. 1). Nowadays, it differs little in usage from "imperialism," which once was linked more closely with military conquest of a distant and alien people but now "is often the equated with the exercise of any form of political control or influence by one political community over another" (Daalder 1968, p. 101). Even with the end of colonialism in the classic sense of formal sovereignty over subordinate political units, the broader issue of foreign influence over previously dependent peoples remains alive in the use of "neocolonialism," in which "overt colonial rule is thus replaced by economic and other forms of control, including the provision of aid, and the nominally free countries are Balkanized and manipulated in the imperial interest" (Emerson 1968, pp. 3-4). Colonialism in the classic sense was clearly a salient issue for parties in formerly dependent countries. As Hodgkins points out, "the colonial situation obliges African parties to regard the realization of independence or self-government, in some form, as their primary aim" (1961, pp. 151-152). Much the same situation, of course, applies to parties in former colonies in Asia, but achievement of self-government per se no longer figures as an issue in other areas of the world, notably Latin America, where "neocolonialism" is opposed instead. In our usage, we treat "anticolonialism" as including "anti-neocolonialism" as well.

"Anticolonialism" must be distinguished from whatever abridgments of sovereignty accompany "supranational integration," another basic variable in our issue orientation cluster. The issue of supranational integration involves agreement between two or more already sovereign nations to surrender portions of their autonomy or sovereignty subject to joint rule making, rule adjudication, and rule enforcement. The relationship among the political units entering a supranational organization is presumed to be essentially a symmetrical one. On the other hand, the issue of anticolonialism involves an asymmetrical relationship between a single nation, which is either politically or economically superior, and another political unit relegated to a subordinate political or economic status.

The manner in which party policy is likely to be expressed on the anticolonialism issue--whether the party opposes or favors the exercise of political influence or economic control of a people by a separate and alien political community--depends on the status of the nation in which the party operates. Is it in the superior or subordinate position? If in the superior position, then party policy is expressed in terms of relinquishing or maintaining control of the subject peoples, with the most extreme leftist position as relinquishing territory and the most extreme rightist position as the maintenance of the empire. If the country is in the subordinate position, then party policy is expressed in terms of winning independence or accepting political rule, with the most extreme leftist position as not only eliminating subordinate political status but also rejecting future cooperation with the former colonial power. The most extreme rightists, on the other hand, stand ready to accept a subordinate role, cooperating with the colonial administrators in governing the territory.

The anticolonialism issue involves given nations and peoples in specific asymmetric relationships, for example, France as a colonizing nation with Algeria as a former colony. Party policies within these two political units tend to become unit specific, that is, prescribing policy for France with respect to Algeria or Algeria with respect to France. While these policies are usually focused on a single unit-specific relationship for parties in

former colonies, there can be several such colonial relationships confronting parties in the colonizing country: France with respect to Tunisia, France with respect to Indo-China, and so forth. Party policy toward colonialism can be contradictory--depending on the circumstances surrounding these various colonial relationships. Although there may be no such thing as a "general" position on colonialism for given parties, particular colonial relationships become more salient at certain times, and judgments of the anticolonial stances of such parties must balance such policy complications.

In recent and current international politics, the propaganda value of terms like "colonialism" and "imperialism" are so great that they elicit policy positions from parties in nations that have not been involved in any significant colonial relationships at all or perhaps none with significant impact for politics during our time period. In these instances, we acknowledge and record such explicit policy positions in our scoring. But, simultaneously, we have tried to avoid the "automatic" scoring of parties on this issue according to their public positions on anticolonialism without first determining whether their nation is implicated in any actual colonial relationships and then determining the parties' position on the actual situation. For this variable, when cases of "program" and "practice" disagree, "practice" is favored over "program" in scoring.

Operational Definition. "Anticolonialism, " like the previous variable, "East/West alignment," is not interpretable for scoring along a "left-right" continuum on the basis of increase or decrease in governmental activity. We have simply established that anticolonial positions be assigned positive or leftist scores. With this amendment, the same scoring matrix applies, using the basic pro-con scale points in Table 6.9. Note that researchers coded parties on this variable after first determining the nation's status in possible colonial relationships as subordinate or superior. They then chose the appropriate code from those under the corresponding heading.

Supranational integration is interpreted as an economic and political issue, not a military one. The military alliance dimension is covered in the "alignment with East/West blocs" variable in the issue orientation cluster. The supranational integration variable seeks to measure parties' attitudes toward movements such as pan-Africanism and pan-Europeanism, as well as toward ties with a commonwealth or other supranational grouping.

Europe Must Unite, by Count R. N. Coudenhove-Kalergi, states the essence of pan-Europeanism: "creation . . . of a single European Commonwealth based on such measure of political and economic unity as may be found possible, but, above all, on a common European ideal, transcending without weakening, and including, as a matter of course, the fullest toleration of minorities in each state" (1940, p. 12). Altering Haas's definition of political integration slightly, we define supranational integration as the process whereby political actors in several distinct national settings voluntarily shift their loyalties, expectations, and political activities toward an encompassing unit, whose institutions possess or demand jurisdiction over the preexisting nation-states (1964, p. 27).

The extreme classifications of parties on the issue of supranational integration may be seen as impractical, or even unrealizable, Nevertheless, these extremes represent opposite poles of a concept of supranational integration. The negative extreme is a prohibition against trade and/or a desire for economic and political self-sufficiency (isolation) of the nation-state, while the positive extreme is the elimination of the specific nation-state as it now exists and complete economic and political union with other nation-states.

Operational Definition. Parties are coded according to the degree to which they support or oppose supranational integration. A supportive position is somewhat arbitrarily equated with the pro, or leftist, position, and opposition to the idea becomes the rightist response.

PRO-strong	5	Party favors elimination of specific nation-state as it now exists, as well as complete economic and political union with other nation-states.
PRO-moderate	3	Party favors political and economic federation with other nation-states, but also favors individual state identity.
PRO-weak	1	Party favors a customs union with other nation-states; barriers to trade are lowered within the group of nation-states, and common tariffs are set up to apply to all nation-states not within the group.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Advocates a cautious attitude toward free trade communities or political federation but does not argue against them in principle.
CON-moderate	-3	Opposes the establishment or maintenance of a free trade community or political federation in principle.
CON-strong	-5	Opposes the establishment or maintenance of a free trade community or political federation in principle and urges the enactment of higher tariffs to discourage imports and promote economic and political self-sufficiency of the nation-state.

Lipset and Rokkan identify as one of four critical lines of systematic cleavage "the conflict between the central nation-building culture and the increasing resistance of the ethnically, linguistically, or religiously distinct subject populations in the provinces and the peripheries" (1967, p. 15). Coleman and Rosberg also state that "ethnic, regional, and other parochialisms, not transcended or contained by [a] sense of national community or by habitation to national institutions . . . dispose party to serve as the main instrument, singly, or through auxiliary instrumentalities it controls, for national integration" (1964, p. 657). Within the defining context of these two statements, our concept of national integration focuses on the party's predisposition vis-a-vis the preservation or reduction of distinctive cultural and regional (but not clerical) characteristics on the horizontal dimension--that is, exclusive of wholly class phenomena.

It is the intent of this variable to identify the focus of functional and symbolic authority advocated by the party and to note whether national or subnational influences predominate in the desired arrangement. While distinctly relevant to nation-states confronted with the task of building a coherent national political culture, this issue is not irrelevant to advanced states, which may exhibit peculiarities of uneven development or cultural dissonance characteristic of much younger polities.

The extreme nationalist position on this issue is clearly advocacy of the obliteration of subnational loyalties, whether regional, ethnic, linguistic, traditional, or some combination of these. The Kemalist revolution led by the Turkish People's Party in the 1920s is representative of such a program in its attempts at Turkification of ethnic minorities and revitalization of the Turkish nation through political, legal, and educational reform. (Note that the secularizing aspects of the movement are coded elsewhere; see variable 5.05.) Parties which take a position short of this extreme may institutionalize state predominance by preempting control over major administrative structures and yet, at the same time, tolerate minor functional expressions of regional or communal authority. Such toleration, however, is likely to be accompanied by oratory along the lines of Sekou Touré's plea to the (Guinean people to forsake tribalism and thereby facilitate national advancement. A weaker stance on this issue is represented by a policy that promotes the dominance of national structures while accommodating subnational units by means of such devices as the reservation of seats in the national legislature for sole occupation by members of particular ethnic or territorial groups.

Support for an effective federal structure characterized by the virtual sharing of decision-making authority between national and subnational power centers is designated to be slightly rightist in the light of the contemporary ethos of centralism. What may be labeled a confederal posture--sacrifice of some subnational authority to a central government but reservation of control over tax collection, education, law enforcement, and the like--constitutes an intermediate rightist stance. The extreme disintegrative position on this issue is the assertion of subnational autonomy--that is, separatism.
 

Operational Definition. Parties are coded according to the degree to which they favor or oppose national predominance, which are the pro and con positions on this issue, respectively.

PRO-strong	5	Extreme nationalist. Advocates obliteration of subnational authority, complete assimilation of all segments into a national political culture.
PRO-moderate	3	Nationalist. Advocates predominance of national authority structures and symbols, combined with reluctant toleration of some functional expressions of communal or regional authority.
PRO-weak	1	Nationalist/localist. Advocates dominance of national authority structures and symbols, combined with recognition of communal, regional, or other subnational distinctions and an effort to accommodate them, for example, through differential legislation.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Federalist. Advocates virtual sharing of decision-making authority between national and subnational power centers.
CON-moderate	-3	Confederationist. Advocates sacrifice of some subnational authority to a confederal government, but maintenance of distinct schools, tax collection, law enforcement agencies, and the like.
CON-strong	-5	Separationist. Advocates perpetuation of subnational autonomy through creation of administratively independent unit; that is, secession.

The spread of democratic ideals across time and across space has produced demands for participation in governments from newly politicized segments of societies. In many cases, these pressures for greater political participation stimulated the creation of political parties to represent these emerging forces in politics. In other cases, existing parties competed for the new participants, seeking to facilitate their entry into the political arena. In still other cases, established governmental parties grappled with the problem of how to resist the demand for meaningful participation while claiming the practice of democracy for the benefit of the international community. The abstract issue of popular participation in government can be translated into the concrete issues of the extent and nature of participation in elections to choose governmental leaders.

A party's response to the extent of electoral participation relates to its position on extension of the franchise, which depends not only on its commitment to political equality but also on the practical consequences of extending the franchise to segments of the population previously excluded from the electorate. Parties expecting a net increase in their vote from extension of the franchise can be expected to promote the issue avidly. Those fearing a net loss of support can be expected to skirt the issue in public while attempting to smother it in private. If proponents of an expanded suffrage are not successful in raising it to the level of national debate, its opponents are unlikely to perform the service for them. Thus, where the existing suffrage is less than universal and the issue lies unopened, one might conclude that the objective is to limit participation in the political process, preserving the privilege for vested interests.

In countries where the suffrage is significantly delimited, legal qualifications are often serviceable devices to legitimize the exclusion of particular groups from the voting rolls. It is the intent of this variable to measure not so much the method by which certain segments of the population, if any, are to be disenfranchised, but rather the importance of those exclusions. The exclusion of illiterate immigrants is held to be less serious a limitation than, as occurred in Kenya, the debarrment of most persons below the age of 40, or, alternatively, of women, whose enfranchisement even in liberal democracies is a development of relative recency. Support for the exclusion of major economic, ethnic, or racial groupings is considered to constitute the most virulent type of opposition to universal suffrage.

Since every polity believes the disenfranchisement of aliens, convicted criminals, persons of unsound mind, and nonadults to be a matter of right if not of necessity, "universal suffrage" should be construed to take account of these qualifications.

Hyneman's list of six primary considerations in voting qualifications is relevant to our concern with franchisement (1968). Hyneman finds that statutory restrictions on voting eligibility have been based on considerations of (I) competence to vote with knowledge of issues, candidates, and the situation--commonly reflected in literacy and residence requirements; (2) interest or stake in the outcome of elections--seen in residence and property requirements; (3) compliance with the laws and the actions of the political process itself--the object of restrictions on criminals and presumably members of "subversive" organizations; (4) sharing of common positions with others who are enfranchised--often used to justify disenfranchisement of women, who were felt to be represented by their husbands; (5) other means of power that the individual can use to influence government decisions--sometimes argued in opposition to clergy voting; and (6) social compatibility of population groups (usually minority groups) with the group that wields effective political power--seen in restrictions based on a variety of criteria that effectively eliminate or seriously dilute the voting strength of racial, religious, ethnic, or economic classes in society.

The nature of electoral participation, however, is as important as the extension of the franchise. Universal suffrage cannot yield meaningful participation if the voters do not have a choice among candidates in elections. Extension of the franchise is a relevant consideration only in the context of competitive elections, meaning that at least two parties present alternative sets of candidates. The nature of electoral participation can be impaired, moreover, by discriminatory restrictions on party campaigning, which restricts the voters' range of choice.

Operational Definition. Parties are coded according to their positions concerning the joint application of certain criteria concerning the extent and nature of electoral participation, as discussed above.

PRO-strong	5	Advocates maintaining or introducing universal adult suffrage (commonly 18 to 23 years of age) plus favoring competitive elections to choose government leaders.
PRO-moderate	3	Advocates maintaining or introducing adult suffrage for males but not for females plus favoring competitive elections.
PRO-weak	1	Advocates maintaining or introducing popular enfranchisement in principle, but favors substantial abridgements on the basis of competence, interest, or compliance--reflected in nondiscriminatory application of literacy tests, property requirements, or educ
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous positions.
CON-weak	-1	Supports a situation which disenfranchises a substantial minority of the population either through discriminatory application of a legal test or through explicit exclusion of social groupings (an example of exclusion because of "social incompatibility"),
CON-moderate	-3	Supports a situation which disenfranchises a majority of the population either through a discriminatory application of legal tests or through explicit exclusion of social groupings, or allows only one party to compete in regular elections.
CON-strong	-5	Advocates a significant reduction in the proportion of the enfranchised population, or opposes popular election as a general principle for selecting government leaders, that is, holds no elections or one-party elections very irregularly.

Plano and Greenberg distinguish "civil rights" from "civil liberties" by pointing out that liberties guarantee protection of persons, opinions, and property against arbitrary government interference, whereas rights are usually protected through positive governmental acts to guard against discrimination from outside the government (1967, pp. 56-57). We therefore define civil rights as claims on social opportunities that are justified simply on the basis of community membership. When someone is denied social opportunities available to others, he is being denied his civil rights. Infringement on civil rights becomes a potential political issue when social opportunities are systematically denied to socially significant groups of people. These acts of discrimination are most frequently directed toward social minorities on the part of those in the majority, but they may also occur on behalf of a minority discriminating against the majority. The latter situation is particularly volatile.

Party orientations toward the infringement of civil rights through discrimination can follow two directions. The party might advocate government action to eradicate or discourage discrimination, or, at the other extreme, it may actually promote or support discrimination through legislative proposals. In either case, the target population might be either minorities or the majority in a society, depending on who controls the government. Between these extremes, one can postulate several intermediate policy positions, as demonstrated in the following scale.

Operational Definition. Protection of civil rights is scored as the pro position, which is consistent with our according positive scores to greater governmental activity in the issue area.

PRO-strong	5	Advocates a government policy of outlawing discrimination broadly across social life and providing for enforcement.
PRO-moderate	3	Advocates government policy of outlawing discrimination but qualified by time limits, areas of life, inadequate enforcement or restrictions on immigration.
PRO-weak	1	Advocates not the explicit outlawing of discrimination but its discouragement through incentive plans, alternative opportunities, and the like; opposes punitive state action against discriminators in favor of programs to encourage nondiscrimination.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Believes the protection of civil rights to be an inappropriate matter for government action; accepts discriminatory practices.
CON-moderate	-3	Accepts discrimination and advocates discriminatory policies in selected aspects of legislation.
CON-strong	-5	Advocates enactment of discriminatory legislation in broad areas of social life and establishment of penalties for noncompliance.

From a classical standpoint, civil liberties derive from individuals as ends in themselves rather than as instruments in the effectuation of greater, usually statist, ends. For our purposes, civil liberties may be defined as opportunities for expressing opinions, commonly in the form of governmental criticism, in an atmosphere free of political repression or illegitimate communal restraint. Reprisals against the purveyors of undesirable sentiments may issue both from political authorities and from powerful social institutions and organizations (viz., the church, the tribal hierarchy). In the latter in stance, whether any instrumentalities of the state undertake to protect the unfettered expression of ideas assumes critical importance.

While noting that we construe civil liberties in their traditional broad sense--so as to include free assembly, speech, worship, and the like--we may follow Bayley (1964, p. 54), who considers "the position of the press . . . to be the bellwether of freedom of speech," by focusing here upon the attitude of the party with respect to the untrammeled publication and dissemination of ideas and opinions via the mass media. Although the press is frequently the exclusive object of study when "public liberties" are examined (see, e.g., Bayley), it seems appropriate to include broadcasting as a more effective communications medium for the masses in underdeveloped countries. Concentration upon media freedom in our operational definition, however, is not intended to exclude infringement on individual or group assembly or speech from consideration. It is the extent of collective control over expression, rather than the method or object of that control, which is the basic concern to us.
 

Operational Definition. Like party policy vis-a-vis government protection of civil rights, party attitudes toward government interference with he exercise of civil liberties exhibit dual directionality. Increased governmental activity, in this instance however, means increased governmental interference with the expression of civil liberties. Thus the leftist stance (pro) is associated with interference with civil liberties and the rightist stance (con) with freedom of expression.
 

PRO-strong	5	Favors state ownership of all mass media: radio, television, and newspapers.
PRO-moderate	3	Allows for private ownership of mass media, but advocates regular state censorship of political news.
PRO-weak	1	Allows for private ownership of mass media, but advocates state censorship of political content on "sensitive issues."
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Advocates freedom of expression, but does not oppose occasional retaliation by social or low-order political instruments against the assertion of undesirable opinions; supports government allocation of broadcast time or newspaper coverage; supports govern
CON-moderate	-3	Advocates freedom of expression as an acknowledged and enforced governmental policy, with censorship on content limited to matters of morality.
CON-strong	-5	Recognizes freedom of expression as an acknowledged and enforced governmental policy, with virtually no censorship on content other than slander, libel.

The previous thirteen variables in the issue orientation cluster have been operationalized in a manner that permits the ready investigation of their conformity to an underlying left-right continuum. The merit in this approach remains to be determined through intensive analysis of the intercorrelations among the indicators, which is the task for another time and place. One method of determining the validity of our procedure, however, does lie within our grasp. The method of "concurrent validation" holds that measurement validity is established if the proposed measure conforms to some outside criterion whose own validity is either established or presumed. To demonstrate concurrent validity of our operationalizations of the issue variables, we need to obtain high correlations with other, presumably valid, ratings of parties on the left-right dimension.

Unfortunately, there are few such comprehensive ratings available in the literature. Students of comparative politics speak freely of parties as being located on a left-right or liberal-conservative continuum, but few attempt to be explicit, systematic, detailed, and comprehensive in their comparisons. However, two usable sets of cross-national party evaluations were located to provide validating criteria for our own measurements. The first set is furnished by experts from the U.S. State Department; the second from experts within the Soviet Union.

For more than 20 years, the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research has classified parties as "Communist," "Non-Communist Left," "Center," and "Conservative" in its annual report of World Strength of Communist Party Organizations. In addition to providing detailed information on the membership and strength of communist parties throughout the world, this publication reports election results and legislative representation for the major parties in each country, with the parties classified in one of the four categories mentioned. Although the State Department appears not to have used "right" or "rightist" as a category by itself, there have been occasional identifications of parties within the "conservative" category as "rightist," "extreme right," and "ultra-conservative." The only major exception to the publication's policy of classifying major parties in left-right terms occurs with the treatment accorded parties in Latin America before 1962, when the State Department categories were "Communist," "Ruling Party or Member of Governing Coalition," and "Opposition Party." Beginning in 1963, however, the Latin American parties were classified in common with the rest of the world, providing belated but still useful data for retroactive classification of those parties which continued their existence through 1963.

BV514 uses the State Department's classifications of parties as an overall summary rating of parties on the left-right continuum according to the "gestalt" of presumed country experts. If our issue orientation variables do not correlate with their ratings, then the validity of our underlying assumption of unidimensionality of our specific coding procedures are in serious question.

Operational Definition. After the parties had been coded on as many as possible of our thirteen issues, they were given codes corresponding to the State Department classification. The codes are as follows:

1	Conservative (and associated references)
2	Center
3	Non-Communist Left
4	Communist

Those who might be suspicious of values or biases operating to affect the judgments of country experts in the U.S. Department of State might welcome the antidote offered by expert ratings from the Soviet Union. Politicheskie partii zarubezhnykh stran (Political Parties of Foreign Countries, 1967) is a publication of the Soviet Union that reviews the origins, support, and programs of contemporary parties across the world. Done in reference-book style like the World Strength of Communist Party Organizations, this source devotes approximately a page to each party covered. While it does not conveniently classify parties into a fourfold typology a la State Department, it does employ a limited and familiar vocabulary in describing its parties. These descriptions underlie our second set of expert ratings of parties along a left-right continuum.

Operational Definition. A simple three-point scale was constructed for coding parties according to key terms in the party descriptions:

1	Right. Parties described as supported by upper bourgeoisie, church leaders, landowners, reactionaries, capitalists, antidemocratic elements, and anticommunists.
2	Center. Parties characterized as supported by the petty bourgeoisie.
3	Left. Parties supported by workers or revolutionary, socialist, or progressive forces; parties described as Communist, Marxist-Leninist, or Socialist.

The variable attempts to capture the level to which a political party encourages or discourages the participation of workers in governmental decision making. In a sense, it reflects the level of corporatism in a society. Schmitter (1974) distinguishes between state and societal corporatism. Their essential difference centers around their path of development and consequently their dependency upon the state. state corporatism tends to be associated with a government mandated interest representation structure or institution, in this case, specifically for labor matters. This form tends to restrict members' actions and abilities, and is ultimately dependent upon the state for its existence. Societal corporatism tends to be associated with an autonomous, diversified labor movement gaining a voice in governmental affairs through organization.

The Industrial Relations variable attempts to measure a political party's efforts in encouraging or discouraging labor organization. The variable does this on two levels. The first is the party's position toward organized labor and the amount of input it allows labor in formulating industrial policy. The second level measures the party's position on the rights of workers which may be independent of labor organization.

Operational Definition

PRO-strong	5	Encourages political participation on a wide range on industrial issues by free, unrestricted labor organizations. The party may function as an extension of one of these groups. Party supports full worker rights in terms of share ownership, benefits, heal
PRO-moderate	3	Encourages political participation of free, unrestricted labor organizations on a limited number of labor matters. Worker rights center around benefits, health and safety but generally omit share ownership.
PRO-weak	1	Workers are free to organize, with minor restrictions but only play a consulting role policy making at the request of the govermnent. Worker Lights center around health and safety matters .
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Structures are in place to regulate the activity of organized labor, such as strikes. However, regulations are limited and no restrictions are placed upon the number of organizations permitted. Worker rights continue to diminish in terms of the losses for
CON-moderate	-3	Labor organization and activity is limited to only state mandated organizations. Policy input is minimal and only consultative. other groups are illegal. worker rights are subject to the discretion of industry although individual rights still remain to of
CON-strong	-5	Party supports the suspension of all labor organization and activity, and would be willing to use coercion. worker rights are non-existent and viewed as a hinderance to the economic well-being of the country.

It might be argued that environmental issues did not become salient political issues until the 1970's. However, it might also be said that it was not until that time that a second side to the issue began to be amplified. Environmental issues often center around measuring and assessing responsibility to economic externalities associated with production. The variable attempts to frame initiatives advocated by political parties that are intended to protect the environment in relation to the short term cost to economic efficiency and/or opportunity of such measures. Therefore, the variable ranges from full governmental control of all potential dangers to the environment to no government involvement, leaving control to long-term market forces with an eye toward economic development and growth.

The Environmental Policy variable will tap into this range on two different levels. The first level deals with the party's posture toward atomic development in terms of both nuclear weaponry and civil nuclear energy. The second levels concerns itself with the depth and breadth of other environmental controls that affect air, water and noise pollution as well as protection of wildlife and land usage.

Operational Definition.
 

PRO-strong	5	Opposes most or all forms of civil nuclear energy as well as military nuclear power. Advocates a strict and comprehensive environmental policy which includes control of all hazards and pollutants as well as rigorous protection of wildlife and their habita
PRO-moderate	3	Opposes most forms of civil nuclear energy as well as military nuclear weapons. Environmental policy centers around extending or updating existing controls but is not comprehensive in scope.
PRO-weak	1	Favors limited usage of civil nuclear energy. Favors existing environmental controls with limited extensions but does not prioritize the environment as an issue.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Favors use of nuclear energy in conjunction with other energy sources. In principal, favors environmental protection but has no comprehensive policy.
CON-moderate	-3	Favors nuclear energy as a primary energy source. Favors the reduction in number and severity of existing environmental controls.
CON-strong	-5	Favors the development of new applications for atomic energy. Advocates increases in nuclear research. Generally favors economic efficiency over environmental controls and advocates the elimination of any controls when these two issues come into conflict.

Immigration policy might be thought of as being dependent upon the economic fortunes of a country. However, it is often tied to many preconceptions of the potential impact immigrants have on a country both economically and culturally. From an economic standpoint, immigration might be seen as enriching the skills and diversity of the work force, or contributing to increased levels of unemployment and the bidding down of wages. From a cultural perspective, immigration policy might be viewed as symbolizing the level of tolerance extended toward culturally diverse groups and who do not possess citizenship. In this way, the variable parallels the issues of "Variable 5.12: Protection of civil Rights" because it concerns itself not only with entry into a country, but the treatment received once there.

The variable will attempt measurement on two levels. The first level is a party's policy concerning entry. This may range from free entry for any individual to no permitted entry for new applicants and deportation for immigrants already present in the country. The second level is the treatment of immigrants after arrival. This ranges from the full extension of rights and privileges to immigrants including special social services for their needs to legislated discriminatory practices against immigrants.

Operational Definition.

PRO-strong	5	Favors free entry for all applying to emigrate to the country. Advocates full rights to immigrants including all social services and benefits. Favors extending additional social services to meet special needs of new arrivals.
PRO-moderate	3	Favors entry of workers (and families) with special skills for targeted industries and political refugees. Extends some social services to immigrants and full civil rights.
PRO-weak	1	Favors entry for immediate family of workers already present in country as well as political refugees. Favors extending social services only for basic needs to immigrants. Civil rights granted in principle but not strictly enforced.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Advocates very restrictive policies for entry, limited primarily to political refugees. Favors special services to be focused on the assimilation process. Advocates that rights extended provide only for equality of opportunity.
CON-moderate	-3	Favors the discontinuation of further immigration. opposes the extension of any rights or services to non-citizens.
CON-strong	-5	Favors the discontinuation of all immigration and assists in the deportation of immigrants residing in the country. Favors discriminatory legislation directed towards non-citizen groups.

The variable attempts to evaluate to what extent a political party advocates equality for women. The issue distinguishes itself from "Basic Variable 5.12: Protection of Civil Rights" because of the unique role that gender plays within society. First, the rights of women is not a minority rights issue, defined in terms of protection of "the few" from the dictates of "the many." Secondly, gender crosses other lines of distinction such as race, religion or ethnic origin. Consequently, progressive steps in these areas do not mean progressive stances toward women in society. A third distinction is that the issue permeates many more facets of life, often in more subtle ways. The role of women at work, as a parent, as a spouse and before the legal system are only some of the dimensions where discriminatory practices may exist. For these reasons, a separate issue seemed to warrant itself.

The variable is measured straightforwardly in terms of extending full equality to women in society. On one end of the spectrum this means legislating strict practices of equality between men and women in all facets of life in addition to extending affirmative action type policies to correct past discriminatory practices. The other end is anchored by opposition to any policy aimed toward the expansion of women's rights. It might also include advocating a repeal of existing rights in order to preserve a more "traditional" role of men and women in society.

Operational Definition.

PRO-strong	5	Advocates full equality for women through legislative measures and favors comprehensive affirmative action initiatives to correct past inequalities in all major aspects of social and political life.
PRO-moderate	3	Advocates full equality for women but supports only limited legislative action. Opposes most affirmative action initiatives.
PRO-weak	1	Supports existing legislation and advocates equality of opportunity for women within a limited scope. Opposes all affirmative action measures.
NEUTRAL	0	Includes ambiguous or contradictory positions.
CON-weak	-1	Opposes discriminatory practices against women in principle, but believes existing legislation has gone "too far" and favors a reduction of some measures.
CON-moderate	-3	Opposes any legislative measures aimed toward protecting women that move beyond existing universal individual rights.
CON-strong	-5	Advocates a more "traditional" role for men and women which requires a reduction of women's rights beyond existing individual rights.