Dataset of ideological polarization in Western Europe

This dataset provides data on ideological polarization in Western Europe. It is based on parties’ left-right placement provided by several expert surveys. Then, it uses Dalton’s polarization index (2008) to calculate the polarization score in terms of votes and seats for each election. The dataset covers 20 Western European countries since 1945, for a total of 398 parliamentary elections and legislatures (Lower House). The dataset will be regularly updated to include the polarization scores of new elections and legislatures

Party system ideological polarization in Western Europe: data, trends, drivers, and links with other key party system properties (1945–2021)

Unlike other key party system properties (e.g. fragmentation, volatility), polarization lacks a publicly available cross-national and longitudinal dataset that can be used as an established source among the scientific community. This article aims to fill this gap by introducing a novel publicly available dataset of party system ideological polarization in Western European party systems. The dataset relies on multiple expert surveys and provides measures of party system ideological polarization for each parliamentary election and legislature in 20 Western European countries since 1945. The article also presents party system polarization’s comparative longitudinal trends, drivers, and links with other key party system properties. It finds that party system ideological polarization is on the rise in Western Europe, mainly due to a progressive shift in the electoral support from ideologically moderate mainstream parties to more extreme challenger parties. Moreover, in recent years, high party system polarization has recurred in highly fragmented and volatile contexts, thus creating a detrimental context for the working of democracy

A more sustainable membrane preparation using triethyl phosphate as solvent

Abstract In this work, hydrophobic poly(vinylidene fluoride) membranes for potential membrane distillation applications, with pore sizes ranging from ~ 0.05 to ~ 0.30 μm, were prepared by employing triethyl phosphate (TEP) as a substitute to the hazardous, commonly used, toxic solvents. Membrane morphologies and properties were tailored based on the main parameters, such as the casting solution composition and the operational conditions, which affect the phase inversion process. Experimental results showed that exposure time to controlled humid air and temperature, as well as additive content in the dope solution, strongly influence the membrane formation. The use of TEP as an alternative solvent may contribute to the development of sustainable separation operations

Spatial diversity in cereal crops: What do we learn from CAP reforms? A farm-level analysis

On-farm agricultural biodiversity conservation has long been recognized as a fundamental resource to the maintenance of ecologic and economic functions. In this light, planned on-farm biodiversity is represented as an economic asset providing a flow of ecological services to direct use of farmers. In particular, crop-biodiversity, measuring diversity within and among wild and domesticated species, has been found to significantly contribute to the productivity of agricultural production through its effects on agricultural yields and incomes. Moreover, agricultural risk-management literature recognizes the safety role of diversification in the presence of market, climatic and other hazards; given that crops react differently to external shocks, risk-averse farmers will choose to allocate their land to different crops in order to face environmental risks. Among the factors affecting biodiversity, institutional failures at different scales are reported as potential cause of biodiversity loss both in developed and developing areas. Within the European context, subsequent CAP changes toward deregulation and adoption of environmental protection measures have been investigated with the aim to assess their potential effect on farm economic and ecological strategies; the present paper seeks to contribute to this strand of literature by empirically assessing the relationship between farmers? diversification choice and CAP decoupled intervention measures. Focusing on the CAP policy changes occurred since 2003, the paper asks the following research question: has crop-biodiversity been positively affected by the implementation of a system of payments progressively delinked from quantity and quality of production? In order to answer this question, the paper empirical strategy relies on farm-level information drawn from the RICA database which collect annual data on the structure and economic performance of Italian agricultural firms. The analysis is carried out on firms specialized in the cereal sector, as this is a sector that experienced much of the changes coming from the reform of the CAP intervention system. To that purpose, a biodiversity function is estimated along the observed sample covering the 2004-2007 period; biodiversity, measured as spatial diversity, is expressed as a function of a set of variables capturing socio-economic farm characteristics (inputs use, degree of agricultural innovation, age of farm manager), land and agronomic conditions (soil fertility, irrigation, altitude), and the variable measuring CAP support. Finally, we include a dummy variable for regional location in order to account for the effect of specific cultural and physical elements on farmers? production choice

Party system change in EU countries: long-term instability and cleavage restructuring

none2nonessunomixedEmanuele, Vincenzo; Marino, BrunoEmanuele, Vincenzo; Marino, Brun

Detection of Wind Turbines in Intertidal Areas Using SAR Polarimetry

The detection of wind turbines in a strong clutter background is analyzed at variance of polarimetric synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) configurations. The area of interest is the intertidal zone near Jiangsu, China and two detectors are used, the polarimetric notch filter (PNF) and a change detector that optimizes the ratio between covariance matrices. The detection performance is quantitatively analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, while the scattering mechanisms that characterize wind turbines are analyzed using the Yamaguchi decomposition. Experimental analysis shows that: 1) wind turbines result in a nontrivial scattering mechanism and 2) full-polarimetric measurements achieve the best detection performance independently of the two detectors

Dataset of Electoral Volatility in the European Parliament elections since 1979

This dataset provides data on electoral volatility and its internal components in the elections for the European Parliament (EP) in all European Union (EU) countries since 1979 or the date of their accession to the Union. It also provides data about electoral volatility for both the class bloc and the demarcation bloc. This dataset will be regularly updated so as to include the next rounds of the European Parliament elections. How to cite this dataset? Emanuele, V., Angelucci, D., Marino, B., Puleo, L., and Vegetti, F. (2019), Dataset of Electoral Volatility in the European Parliament elections since 1979, Rome: Italian Center for Electoral Studies, http://dx.doi.org/10.7802/1905

Geological 3D model of the Po Basin

The geological 3D model of the Po Basin includes the geometry of four stratigraphic horizons (top or unconformity) bounding lithological homogeneous successions of sedimentary units, in the Triassic - Pleistocene time interval, and 179 fault geometries. Each stratigraphic horizon is supplemented by its isobaths. Where possible, the thickness of the succession above or below, respectively for basal unconformity and top, is provided with the surface depth. The lithology, event process, and age of each sedimentary succession are also provided. Each fault, with its upper tip line, is supplemented with the kinematic, mean values for strike, dip azimuth, and dip derived from the 3D surface geometry, and the age of the oldest and youngest faulted or deformed stratigraphic horizon, if obtainable from the 3D geological model. This harmonized dataset and the related data model were obtained in the framework of the GO-PEG project, co-funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) of the European Commission. More specifically, this dataset is the output of the Go-Depth use case aiming to provide a methodology and a model to conceptualize, organize and deliver easy-to-use, high-quality, interoperable subsurface information for sustainable planning and use of natural resources. To this aim the data coming from European-funded projects GeoMol (Alpine Space Programme 2012-2015) and GeoERA HotLime (Horizon 2020, 2018-2021) has been used. In view of data interoperability, the data model has been developed as an extension of the INSPIRE Geology data model. The dataset is served through APIs conforming to the OGC API - Feature standard and it is also downloadable in GeoPackage format, anticipating the application of the principles established by the Open Data Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1024) regarding the sharing of the High-Value Datasets. We acknowledge the listed researchers who contributed seismic and geological data interpretation to the GeoMol and HotLime Project

Gaining votes in Europe against Europe? How national contexts shaped the results of Eurosceptic parties in the 2014 European parliament elections

In the wake of the harshest economic crisis since 1929, in several European countries there has been a rise of Eurosceptic parties that oppose EU integration. The 2014 European Parliament elections were a fundamental turning point for these parties. In this article, after a theoretical discussion on the concept of Euroscepticism, we provide an updated classification of Eurosceptic parties after the 2014 European Parliament elections. We show the cross-country variability of such parties' results and present two hypotheses aiming at explaining Eurosceptic parties' results, one related to each country's economic context and one related to each country's political-institutional context. Through a comparative approach and the use of quantitative data, we test the two hypotheses by creating two standardised indices of economic and political-institutional contexts. Three important findings are shown: Eurosceptic parties perform better in either rich, creditor countries or in poor countries; Eurosceptic parties perform better in countries with peculiar political-institutional features, such as high levels of party system instability and a more permissive electoral system; finally, and crucially, favourable political-institutional contexts seem to be more important than favourable economic contexts for Eurosceptic parties' electoral results