[[File:Political Competition, OWID.svg|thumb|Political competition is defined as one minus the share of votes received by the largest party.]]
[[File:Political competition, OWID.svg|thumb|Political competition is one minus the share of the winning party's votes in a national election. It provides a measure of the winning party's dominance in the election.]]
{{Elections}}
{{Short description|Competition between political parties or candidates}}
'''Electoral competition''', '''political competition''' or '''electoral competitiveness''' describes the amount of [[competition]] in [[Electoral system|electoral politics]] between candidates or [[Political party|political parties]], usually measured by the [[wasted vote|margin of victory]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Klarner|first1=Carl|last2=Berry|first2=William|last3=Carsey|first3=Thomas|last4=Jewell|first4=Malcolm|last5=Niemi|first5=Richard|last6=Powell|first6=Lynda|last7=Snyder|first7=James|year=2013|title=State Legislative Election Returns (1967-2010)|doi=10.3886/ICPSR34297.v1}}</ref>
The [[Polity data series]] includes a measure of political competition.<ref>https://www.systemicpeace.org/inscr/p5manualv2018.pdf Marshall, Monty G., and Ted Robert Gurr. "Polity5: Political regime characteristics and transitions, 1800-2018." Center for Systemic Peace 2 (2020).</ref> Political competitiveness can be affected by the [[Proportional representation|proportionality]] between votes and seats, which can be represented by [[Gallagher index]].<ref name="r846"/>

==Roemer model of political competition==
{{Excerpt|Roemer model of political competition|paragraphs=1|only=paragraphs}}

==Effect on corruption==
{{expand section|date=August 2025}}
Political competitiveness can affect the level of [[political corruption]].<ref name="r846">{{cite journal | last=Alfano | first=Maria Rosaria | last2=Baraldi | first2=Anna Laura | last3=Cantabene | first3=Claudia | title=The role of political competition in the link between electoral systems and corruption: The Italian case | journal=The Journal of Socio-Economics | volume=47 | date=2013 | doi=10.1016/j.socec.2013.07.005 | pages=1–10}}</ref>

== By country ==
===United States===
As of 1984, in American federal elections, races for [[U.S. Senate]] tended to be more competitive than those for [[U.S. House of Representatives]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nice|first1=David|year=1984|title=Competitiveness in house and senate elections with identical constituencies|journal=Political Behavior|volume=6|issue=1|pages=95–102|doi=10.1007/BF00988231| s2cid=154349012 }}</ref> 
In the 21st century, competition in elections has disappeared; even in [[Wave elections in the United States|wave election]] years, the vast majority of U.S. House members have been keeping their seats, with little pressure from the opposing party.<ref>{{cite web|date=2012-07-25|title=How Do We Make Elections More Competitive?|url=http://prospect.org/article/how-do-we-make-elections-more-competitive|website=Prospect.org|accessdate=2017-04-03|archive-date=2017-04-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404043420/http://prospect.org/article/how-do-we-make-elections-more-competitive|url-status=live}}</ref> Competition in U.S. House races has been in decline since at least the 1960s.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Abramowitz|first1=Alan I|last2=Alexander|first2=Brad|last3=Gunning|first3=Matthew|year=2006|title=Incumbency, Redistricting, and the Decline of Competition in the U.S. House Elections|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=68|issue=1|pages=75–88|citeseerx=10.1.1.177.798|doi=10.1111/j.1468-2508.2006.00371.x| s2cid=18783205 }}</ref>

In February 2025, ''[[The New York Times]]'' spoke of the death of competition in elections, which "were decided by low-turnout" of just 57,000 people voting for politicians in U.S. House [[primary election]]s rendering these "meaningless". Also, more than three-quarters of primary races in 2024 were uncontested and only 287 of more than 4,600 primaries were "meaningful". This has contributed to eroding [[public trust| trust in government]]. Apart from [[gerrymandering in the United States]], there has been an aggregation of like-minded voters, because they have moved into the same neighborhoods and communities.<ref name="Corasaniti">{{Cite news |last=Corasaniti |first=Nick |last2=Wines |first2=Michael |date=2025-02-23 |title=The Death of Competition in American Elections |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/us/politics/us-elections-gerrymandering.html |access-date=2025-03-03 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=2025-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250228063340/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/us/politics/us-elections-gerrymandering.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also==
* [[Effective number of parties]]
* [[Investment theory of party competition]]
* [[Median voter theorem]]
* [[Marketplace of ideas]]
* [[Nomination rules]]
* [[Lesser of two evils principle]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Elections]]