Machine generated contents note: PART I -- Overview 1 -- 1 Why should we estimate the policy positions of political actors? 3 -- MICHAEL LAVER -- 2 Searching for the positions of political actors: a review of approaches and a critical evaluation of expert surveys 10 -- PETER MAIR --PART II -- Expert coded text analysis 31 -- 3 Manifesto research since 1979: from reliability to validity 33 -- ANDREA VOLKENS -- 4 Validating the Manifesto Research Group approach: theoretical assumptions and empirical confirmations 50 -- IAN BUDGE -- 5 Position and salience in the policies of political actors 66 -- MICHAEL LAVER -- 6 A framework for analysing local party policy emphases in Scotland 76 -- BODIL AGAS0STER -- 7 The policy space of party manifestos 90 -- MICHAEL D. MCDONALD AND SILVIA M. MENDES -- 8 Analysing party dynamics by taking partially overlapping snapshots 115 -- WOUTER VAN DER BRUG -- 9 Estimating interparty policy distances from election programmes in Quebec, 1970-89 133 -- FRANCOIS PETRY AND RIJEAN LANDRY --PART III -- Computer coded text analysis 147 -- 10 A natural sentences approach to the computer coding of party manifestos 149 -- LEONARD RAY -- 11 Measurement of party positions on the basis of party programmes, media coverage and voter perceptions 162 -- JAN KLEINNIJENHUIS AND PAUL PENNINGS -- 12 The computer coding of political texts: results from Britain,Germany, Ireland and Norway 183 -- JOHN GARRY -- 13 Estimating policy positions from the computer coding of political texts: results from Italy, the Netherlands and Ireland 193 -- MIRANDA DE VRIES, DANIELA GIANNETTI AND LUCY MANSERGH -- 14 Tracking estimates of public opinion and party policy intentions in Britain and the USA 217 -- JUDITH BARA -- PART IV -- Conclusion 237 -- 15 How should we estimate the policy positions of political actors? 239 -- MICHAEL LAVER --Index 245.