Polarization measures

Esteban-Ray polarization over distinct positions, Foster-Wolfson bipolarization W = 2 (2T - G) mu / m, and with a binary party the Levendusky sorting correlation, the separation of party means (pooled-SD in one dimension, Mahalanobis in two) and the between-party share of each dimension's sum of squares; with feeling thermometers the in-party minus out-party gap (affective polarization).

Usage

PolarizationMeasures(
  x,
  party = NULL,
  alpha = 1,
  weights = NULL,
  in_rating = NULL,
  out_rating = NULL
)

Arguments

x

Positions (vector) or points (two-column matrix).

party

Optional 0/1 party indicator.

alpha

Esteban-Ray sensitivity.

weights

Optional person weights for Esteban-Ray.

in_rating, out_rating

Optional thermometer ratings.

Value

list(esteban_ray, wolfson, gini, sorting, separation, between_share, affective) as applicable.

References

Esteban, J.-M. and Ray, D. (1994). On the measurement of polarization. Econometrica 62, 819-851. Foster, J. E. and Wolfson, M. C. (2010). Polarization and the decline of the middle class. Journal of Economic Inequality 8, 247-273. Iyengar, S., Sood, G. and Lelkes, Y. (2012). Affect, not ideology. Public Opinion Quarterly 76, 405-431.

Examples

PolarizationMeasures(c(0, 0, 1, 1))$esteban_ray
#> [1] 0.25