Which party won highest subnational office? The Subnational Elections Database holds this information for 84 out of 106 politically decentralized democracies after 1990. For Latin America, it also captures vote shares, candidate information, and characteristics of the subnational electoral framework.
Country-Level Data
To what extent did the regime leader’s party also win control over highest subnational (executive) office?
(Note: Data shown refers to the last subnational elections as of Dec. 2005. Leader’s party is evaluated on January 1st the year after the subnational election.)
Subnational Control of Regime Leader’s Party in 2005 Under Democracy
How has the average share of subnational victories by the regime leader changed over time? (84 democracies, 1990-2021)
Average Subnational Victories of Regime Leader’s Party Under Democracy
State-Level Data
Has a party in national government won the last race for highest subnational executive office? (371 states across 18 democracies in Latin America; opposition status evaluated the day of the subnational election)
Last Subnational Election Outcome By State in Latin America (December 2005)
My Dissertation
The regime leader’s subnational control matters for democratic stability, for instance, because higher control reduces subsequent horizontal accountability.
…this holds even in countries without upper chambers and outside of federations.
…and in the absence of national elections.
Note: This coefficient plot reports estimates from fixed effects panel models (78 democracies with subnational elections, 1990-2021). Model 1 considers the up to three parties in national government with the highest legislative seat share; model 2 only the regime leader’s party. Outcome is V-Dem’s horizontal accountability index. Controls include the regime leader’s seat share in the national lower house and various other predictors of regime stability.
Regime Leader’s Subnational Control and Subsequent Horizontal Accountability
Julian Michel 