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Manifesto Coding×Qualitative Comparative Analysis×
FieldPolitical SciencePolitical Science
FamilyProcess / pipelineProcess / pipeline
Year of origin20011987
OriginatorManifesto Research Group / Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP/MARPOR)Charles C. Ragin
TypeQuantitative content analysis of party manifestosSet-theoretic, configurational comparative method
Seminal sourceBudge, I., Klingemann, H.-D., Volkens, A., Bara, J., & Tanenbaum, E. (2001). Mapping Policy Preferences: Estimates for Parties, Electors, and Governments 1945–1998. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN: 9780199244003Ragin, C. C. (1987). The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN: 9780520058347
AliasesCMP coding, MARPOR coding, Manifesto content analysis, Party manifesto codingQCA, csQCA, fsQCA, Configurational comparative method
Related43
SummaryManifesto coding is the quantitative content-analysis methodology of the Comparative Manifesto Project (CMP/MARPOR) for measuring parties' policy preferences from their election manifestos. Trained coders break each manifesto into quasi-sentences and assign every unit to one of a fixed set of policy categories. Counting how often each category appears yields salience measures, and combining pro- and anti- categories produces position scores such as the left–right RILE index, giving comparable estimates of party positions across more than fifty democracies since 1945.Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a set-theoretic, configurational method that identifies which combinations of conditions are necessary or sufficient for an outcome across a set of cases. Developed by Charles Ragin, it treats each case as a configuration of set memberships, builds a truth table of all logically possible combinations, and uses Boolean algebra to minimize them into the simplest expressions that account for the outcome. It bridges qualitative case knowledge and cross-case generalization, embracing causal complexity through conjunctural causation, equifinality, and asymmetry.
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ScholarGateCompare methods: Manifesto Coding · Qualitative Comparative Analysis. Retrieved 2026-06-24 from https://scholargate.app/en/compare