Overview
A parliament plot is a type of data visualization used to represent the composition of a legislative body, such as a parliament or congress. This plot visually illustrates how many seats each political party or group holds within the assembly, providing a clear and immediate understanding of the political landscape. The design of a parliament plot often mimics the semi-circular or circular seating arrangement found in many parliamentary chambers, with each segment representing seats occupied by different parties. This allows for an intuitive and aesthetically pleasing way to comprehend the distribution of power and the balance between various political factions.
Example of a parliament plot.
Step-by-step guide in R with ggparliament
To create a parliament plot in R using the ggparliament package, first load the necessary libraries.
Next, set your working directory and load the required datasets.
View the sample datasets.
Uganda Parliament Data
Tanzania National Assembly Data
Create a parliament plot based on Uganda dataset using the code below. (note, plot type = circle).
Note: Using paletteer package you can easily choose and apply the right colors to your visualization.
Executing the above code results in.
With a few changes on the code, you can plot Tanzania data as a semi-circle using the code below.
Executing the above code plots the view below.
Note, you can change the plot type to “classroom” using the code below.
Executing the above code plots the view below.
Conclusion
Creating a parliament plot in R using the ggparliament package is a powerful way to visualize the composition of legislative bodies. By following the step-by-step guide, you have learned how to harness the capabilities of ggparliament to produce a clear, visually appealing representation of political data. This method not only aids in the analysis of the distribution of power among various political groups but also enhances the communication of complex political structures to a broader audience. With these tools, you can effectively convey the nuances of parliamentary compositions and support informed decision-making and discussions surrounding legislative demographics.
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