Political fragmentation is the fragmentation of the political landscape into different parties and groups, which makes it difficult to deliver effective governance. Political fragmentation can apply to political parties, political groups or other

political organisation A political organization is any organization that involves itself in the political process, including political parties, non-governmental organizations, and special interest advocacy groups. Political organizations are those engaged in politica ...

Measures of political fragmentation

One aspect of political fragmentation can be measured by

effective number of parties The effective number of parties is a concept introduced by Laakso and Taagepera (1979) which provides for an adjusted number of political parties in a country's party system. The idea behind this measure is to count parties and, at the same time, ...

Effects of political fragmentation

A higher number of parties allows voters to better represent their

political spectrum A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...

of political positions. The length of government coalition formation increases with number of parties and decreases with preexisting political groups. The effects of political fragmentation are depending, if the government or opposition are fragmented.

Prediction of political fragmentation

The political fragmentation, represented by effective number of parties, is roughly estimated with the seat product model, and increases with district magnitude and assembly size. The Duverger's law predicts majoritarian elections with

district magnitude An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

of one favor a two-party system and

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

increases the number of parties. In proportional representation, higher electoral thresholds reduce number of parties represented while increasing

unrepresented vote The unrepresented voters are considered the total amount of voters not represented by any party sitting in the legislature in the case of proportional representation. In contrast, the related concept of wasted votes generally applies to plurality vo ...

. Fragmentation tends to moves toward an equilibrium, regardless of the type of voting system.Dynamics in the fragmentation of political party systems, Stephen Coleman, 1995
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References

Electoral systems Political science Political party systems