Measuring a common space and the dynamics of reform positions: Non-standard tools, non-standard actors (C04)

• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: from 2010 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 139943784

The project is central to developing original quantitative methods that capture the spatial placement of actors relevant to the political economy of reform. We introduce three new domains using non-standard actors: minority legislators who shift the quality of reforms, central bankers who execute reforms, and judges who oversee reforms. These actors are understudied, are selected to diverse institutional environments, and expose unique lexicon features. By exposing our algorithms to new actors, we can distinguish if our algorithms are domain independent and can generate methodological innovation in natural language processing that will enhance our understanding of political reform processes.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 884: Political Economy of Reforms
• Applicant Institution: Universität Mannheim
• Project Heads: Professorin Dr. Nicole Baerg, from 9/2014 until 12/2017; Professor Thomas Gschwend, Ph.D.; Privatdozent James Lo, until 8/2014; Will Lowe, Ph.D., until 8/2015; Professor Dr. Simone Paolo Ponzetto, since 9/2015; Professor Dr. Heiner Stuckenschmidt