The feeling thermometer scores andthe basis of using it to construct a party competition space.

Starting point for an empirical estimation of spatial voting models in mass elections is the construction of a party/candidate competition space. For more than thirty years researchers often have used the feeling thermometer scores among the other variables for this purpose. A basic assumption is thereby that the feeling thermometer scores deliver informations not only on the distance between the party and the respondent, but also on the (ideological) distance between parties. This assumption, however, has got neither theoretical nor empirical support which this paper aims to deliver. After approaching to historical and theoretical background of use of the feeling thermometer scores in survey, this paper delivers empirical evidence of the assumption above from USA, Germany and Japan. This paper assumes, like Enelow and Hinich (1984), that the feeling thermometer scores include not only the ideological distance, but also more components. one of the most important additional components should be the party competence. Differently from Enelow and Hinich, this paper assumes the heterogenity of the competence among voters. A preliminary empirical analysis supports these basic assumptions. This paper provides an important basis to a wide range of electoral studies, because the feeling thermometer scores have been used in various areas since its first appearance in the 60’s. As an implication the paper also proposes a new method for the estimation of a party competition space which is compatible with the assumption supported by the empirical evidences above. It finds a stable and reasonable solution of the party and the voter ideal points configuration. Reference Enelow, James and Hinich, Melvin J. The Spatial Theory of Voting. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1984. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]