This dataset identifies and lists all the new parties emerged in Western Europe since 1945 and provides data about party system innovation, defined as the aggregate level of ‘newness’ recorded in a party system at a given election. Data are based on parliamentary elections (lower house) of 19 Western European countries since 1945. This dataset covers the entire universe of Western European elections held after World War II under democratic regimes. Data for Greece, Portugal and Spain have been collected after their democratizations in the 1970s. This dataset follows the recent publication of an article [Emanuele, V. and Chiaramonte, A. (2016), 'A growing impact of new parties: myth or reality? Party system innovation in Western Europe after 1945', Party Politics, Online First, DOI:10.1177/1354068816678887. http://ppq.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/11/17/1354068816678887.full] analysing new parties and party system innovation in Western Europe in Western Europe and based on this dataset.

Parliamentary elections (lower house) since 1945 in Western Europe

Each election held under a democratic regime in Western Europe has been included in the dataset