Political fragmentation

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Political fragmentation is the division of the political landscape into so many different parties and groups that the governance might become inefficient.^[1] Political fragmentation can apply to political parties, political groups or other political organisations. It is most often operationalized using the effective number of parliamentary parties.^[2]

Scholars, journalists, and politicians have theorized about a number of potential effects of political fragmentation. For example, it has been argued that higher fragmentation allows voters to better represent their

While one-party states are authoritarian, dominant-party systems can be democratic.^[8]

The political fragmentation, represented by effective number of parties, is roughly estimated with the

Strong autocrats can prefer a fragmented political system, while weaker autocrats can prefer a low level of party fragmentation.[13]