This article introduces a groundbreaking method for analyzing political party manifestos by creating semantically complete units, standardizing them into subject-predicate-object structures, and applying a flexible hierarchical coding scheme. Unlike previous approaches that rely heavily on manual coding, this new technique offers greater efficiency and comprehensiveness. To demonstrate its effectiveness, the authors compare results from Austrian national elections spanning 2002 to 2008 with existing studies employing various measurement strategies.

📊 Methodology:

• Semantically complete units derived from syntax

• Standardized subject-predicate-object structure

• Flexible hierarchical coding scheme

🔍 Evaluation:

The authors evaluate this approach by comparing estimates for Austria's 2002, 2006, and 2008 elections with previous studies. This comparison highlights the strengths and nuances of their new methodology.

🔗 Integration Potential:

The article shows how these manifesto data can be linked with other datasets from the Austrian National Election Study—including mass surveys and elite candidate questionnaires—to provide richer insights into electoral behavior.