This article explores the issues surrounding the operationalization and measurement of social cleavages in a large-N context from the perspective of the party systems literature. It first highlights the difficulty of measuring the concept, which it argues has impeded hypothesis testing, and suggests strategies for improving upon existing measures. It then demonstrates that the conclusions we draw about well-known hypotheses linking social cleavages to the number of electoral parties in legislative elections depend upon the measure we employ. Hence, the article makes the case that how we measure social cleavages matters.
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