National Elections Database
Number of national elections documented in the database
The National Elections Database provides information on the results of presidential and parliamentary elections conducted worldwide since World War II. Version 1.0 of the dataset covers 3,985 national elections (1,023 presidential elections and 2,962 parliamentary elections) held between 1946 and 2018 across 214 countries and independent territories. The dataset aims to achieve the broadest possible time and spatial coverage by compiling information from various sources, as described in the codebook and companion paper.
Available datasets
1. Parliamentary Elections download
- Election coverage: 2,962 elections in 213 countries. The data include all unicameral parliaments and the lower chamber of bicameral parliaments in both presidential and parliamentary systems.
- Key variables: Seat tallies and seat shares for all parties along with information on the incumbent party, the margin of victory of the challenger party over the incumbent party, and whether an electoral turnover occurred.
2. Presidential Elections download
- Coverage: 1,023 elections in 122 countries.
- Key variables: Vote number and vote shares for all candidates along with information on the incumbent candidate (or the candidate of the incumbent party), the margin of victory of the challenger candidate over the incumbent candidate, and whether an electoral turnover occurred.
Codebook download
Companion paper
The database was initially constructed to conduct the analysis reported in "Electoral Turnovers" (Review of Economic Studies, forthcoming). The paper's appendix describes in detail the methodology and sources used to construct the database.
Link to the published paper: link.
Link to the associated replication package: link.
How to cite this database
Marx, B., Pons, V., & Rollet, V. (2024). National Elections Database (Version 1.0). Accessible at www.nationalelectionsdatabase.com.
@misc{MarxPonsRollet2024NationalElections,
author = {Benjamin Marx and Vincent Pons and Vincent Rollet},
title = {National Elections Database (Version 1.0)},
year = {2024},
url = {http://nationalelectionsdatabase.com}}Authors
Contact us
The database is continuously being improved. If you have any suggestions, comments, or issues, please contact the authors via email using the information provided above.