table_name,type,name,description,comment
view_variable,text,table_name, name of table in ParlGov database,
view_variable,text,type,"type of data (text, integer, real, binary, date)",
view_variable,text,name,name of variable in ParlGov database,
view_variable,text,description,Information about this observation.,This field should also include a short textual account of all information that is coded in the 'data_json' field.
view_variable,text,comment,additional information about the coding of this observation,
view_party,text,country_name_short,three letter abbreviation of country -- iso alpha code,
view_party,text,country_name,name of country,
view_party,text,party_name_short,party abbreviation,
view_party,text,party_name_english,English name of party,
view_party,text,party_name,original name of party with native characters,field may require a change of character encodings on your local computer
view_party,text,party_name_ascii,original name of party without special characters  (this one may be easier to handle with in statistical packages),
view_party,text,family_name_short,party family abbreviation,
view_party,text,family_name,party family name,
view_party,real,left_right,"0--10 scale mean value in left/right dimension with data from Castles/Mair 1983, Huber/Inglehart 1995, Benoit/Laver 2006 and CHES 2010",
view_party,real,state_market,0--10 scale mean value in 'regulation of the economy' dimension with data from Benoit/Laver 2006 and CHES 2010,
view_party,real,liberty_authority,0--10 scale mean value in 'libertarian/authoritarian' dimension with data from Benoit/Laver 2006 and CHES 2010,
view_party,real,eu_anti_pro,"0--10 scale mean value in 'EU integration' dimension with data from Ray 1999, Benoit/Laver 2006 and CHES 2010",previously variable 'eu_pro_contra' in ParlGov 11/07
view_party,integer,cmp,Comparative Manifestos Project (CMP) party ID (Budge ea. 2001; Klingemann ea. 2006),
view_party,integer,euprofiler,EU Profiler (Trechsel/Mair 2009) party ID,
view_party,integer,ees,European Election Study (2009) party ID,
view_party,integer,castles_mair,Castles/Mair (1983) expert survey party ID --  combined from number of country and number of party entry in data table (pp. 75--83),
view_party,integer,huber_inglehart,Huber/Inglehart (1995) expert survey party ID -- combined from number of country and number of party entry in Appendix 2 (pp. 92--108),
view_party,integer,ray,Ray (1999) expert survey party ID -- combined country ID and party ID,
view_party,integer,benoit_laver,Benoit/Laver (2006) expert survey party ID -- row number of first party entry in original data set,
view_party,integer,chess,Chapel Hill expert survey series (CHESS) party ID (Hooghe ea. 2010; Marks/Steenbergen 2007),
view_party,integer,country_id,ParlGov unique identifier for each country. Other tables refer to this variable as 'country_id'.,
view_party,integer,party_id,party id,
view_party,integer,family_id,ParlGov unique party family identifier -- see table 'info_id' for a description,
view_election,text,country_name_short,three letter abbreviation of country -- iso alpha code,
view_election,text,country_name,name of country,
view_election,text,election_type,type of election -- 'parliament' or 'ep' election,
view_election,date,election_date,"Date the election took place. If the election lasted for several days, we code the last date.",
view_election,real,vote_share,percentage of votes for a party,
view_election,integer,seats,number of seats won by party,Seats coded for alliance members if information available. Coded as 0 for parties that won no seats and as missing value for electoral alliances if seats are coded at the level of alliance members.
view_election,integer,seats_total,total number of seats,
view_election,text,party_name_short,party abbreviation,
view_election,text,party_name,original name of party with native characters (this field may require a change of character encodings on your local computer),
view_election,text,party_name_english,English name of party,
view_election,real,left_right,"0--10 scale mean value in left/right dimension with data from Castles/Mair 1983, Huber/Inglehart 1995, Benoit/Laver 2006 and CHES 2010",
view_election,integer,country_id,ParlGov unique identifier for each country. Other tables refer to this variable as 'country_id'.,
view_election,integer,election_id,ParlGov unique identifier for national and EP elections. Other tables refer to this variable as 'election_id'.,
view_election,integer,previous_parliament_election_id,'election_id' of previous national parliament election in the country,
view_election,integer,previous_cabinet_id,'cabinet_id' of incumbent government,
view_election,integer,party_id,ParlGov unique party identifier. Variable name 'id' in 'party' table and 'party_id' in all other tables.,
view_cabinet,text,country_name_short,three letter abbreviation of country -- iso alpha code,
view_cabinet,text,country_name,name of country,
view_cabinet,date,election_date,"Date the election took place. If the election lasted for several days, we code the last date.",
view_cabinet,date,start_date,start of cabinet defined as the date of the first event that determines a new cabinet,"For some (continuation) caretaker cabinet, the date is set to election date."
view_cabinet,text,cabinet_name,label/name of cabinet consisting of the family name of the prime minister and a roman numeral if he/she headed more than one cabinet (ascii characters only),
view_cabinet,binary,caretaker,"caretaker cabinet with a limited legislative mandate: non-partisan, provisional, technical or continuation (tree month rule) cabinet",
view_cabinet,binary,cabinet_party,cabinet member vs. opposition party,
view_cabinet,binary,prime_minister,indicates if the party fills the prime minster position,
view_cabinet,integer,seats,number of seats in parliament,"In versions prior to ParlGov 11/07, the number of seats was based on seats won at the last election (table 'election_result'). It does now take into account changes in parliament -- see documentation for table 'viewcalc_parliament_composition'."
view_cabinet,integer,election_seats_total,seats total in parliament,
view_cabinet,text,party_name_short,party abbreviation,
view_cabinet,text,party_name,original name of party with native characters (this field may require a change of character encodings on your local computer),
view_cabinet,text,party_name_english,English name of party,
view_cabinet,real,left_right,"0--10 scale mean value in left/right dimension with data from Castles/Mair 1983, Huber/Inglehart 1995, Benoit/Laver 2006 and CHES 2010",
view_cabinet,integer,country_id,ParlGov unique identifier for each country. Other tables refer to this variable as 'country_id'.,
view_cabinet,integer,election_id,ParlGov unique identifier for national and EP elections. Other tables refer to this variable as 'election_id'.,
view_cabinet,integer,cabinet_id,ParlGov unique identifier for each cabinet. Variable name 'id' in 'cabinet' table and 'cabinet_id' in all other tables.,
view_cabinet,integer,previous_cabinet_id,'cabinet_id' of previous national cabinet in the country,
view_cabinet,integer,party_id,ParlGov unique party identifier. Variable name 'id' in 'party' table and 'party_id' in all other tables.,