Psephology (; from Greek ) is the study of elections and voting.
Psephology uses historical precinct voting data, public , campaign finance information and similar statistical data. The term was coined in 1948 by W. F. R. Hardie (1902–1990) in the United Kingdom after R. B. McCallum, a friend of Hardie's, requested a word to describe the study of elections. Its first documented usage in writing appeared in 1952.[ "Chapter 15: British Psephology 1945–2001: Reflections on the Nuffield Election Histories", David Butler, Still More Adventures With Britannia: Personalities, Politics and Culture in Britain. William Roger Louis (Ed.), Harry Ranson Humanities Research Centre, University of Texas, 2003]
Etymology
The term draws from the Greek word for
pebble as the ancient Greeks used pebbles to vote. (Similarly, the word "
ballot" is derived from the medieval French word "
ballotte", meaning a small ball.
)
Applications
Psephology is a division of political science that deals with the examination as well as the statistical analysis of elections and polls. People who practise psephology are called psephologists.
A few of the major tools that are used by a psephologist are historical precinct voting data, campaign finance information, and other related data. Public opinion polls also play an important role in psephology. Psephology also has various applications specifically in analysing the results of election returns for current indicators, as opposed to predictive purposes. For instance, the Gallagher Index measures the amount of proportional representation in an election.
Degrees in psephology are not offered (instead, a psephologist might have a degree in political science and/or statistics). Knowledge of demographics, statistical analysis and politics (especially electoral systems and voting behaviour) are prerequisites for becoming a psephologist.
Notable psephologists
Notable psephologists include:
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David Andrews, who since 1973 has led the Canadian network CTV's analysis and "calling" of dozens of federal and elections and referendums
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Michael Barone, who has co-authored The Almanac of American Politics biennially since 1972
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David Butler and Robert McKenzie, who co-developed the swingometer
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Charlie Cook, publisher of The Cook Political Report
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John Curtice, who has a strong track record of forecasting UK elections
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Thomas Ferguson, for his Investment theory of party competition
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Michael Gallagher who devised the Gallagher index
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Curtis Gans, author of Voter Turnout in the United States, 1788–2009
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Antony Green, election analyst for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation since 1991
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Éric Grenier at thewrit.ca
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Pradeep Gupta, chairman of Axis My India
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Allan Lichtman, professor and creator of The Keys to the White House
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Frank Luntz received the first ever doctorate in campaign technology from Trinity College, Oxford
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Malcolm Mackerras (who devised the Mackerras pendulum)
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Victor Prescott, who preceded Antony Green as election analyst for the ABC
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V.C. Sekhar, an Indian academic
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Nate Silver, creator of the website FiveThirtyEight tracking U.S. voting trends
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Andrew S. Tanenbaum and Christopher Bates, who together write the daily electoral-vote.com website, which tracks polling for US presidential and congressional elections
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Noel Whelan, Irish politician and psephologist
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Yogendra Yadav, Indian politician and psephologist
See also
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British Polling Council
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Electoral Calculus
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Electoral geography
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Opinion poll
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Political analyst
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data science
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Political forecasting
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Swing (politics)
External links
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ACE Project – Information resource for electoral design and administration. Includes comparative data on elections and electoral systems
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International IDEA – International Organisation providing (amongst other things) statistical analysis of elections and electoral systems
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'Psephos' Dr. Adam Carr's Elections Archive
