Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The study of political elections.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the branch of sociology that studies election trends (as by opinion polls)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek psēphos, pebble, ballot (from the ancient Greeks' use of pebbles for voting) + –logy.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Coined 1952 by R. B. McCallum, from pseph- (“pebble, election”) + -o- + -logy (“study of”)

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Examples

  • Firstly psephology is the study of election results - you're offering lessons in crystal ball gazing.

    Guest publication Jeff 2007

  • Thus those voting tactically under AV will in practice number approximately zero, compared with the millions of voters faced with the choice between a tactical vote and a wasted one under FPTP.Mike WrightProfessor of operational research, Lancaster University• The politics of the referendum No to AV campaign neutrality under spotlight over Tory party funding, 3 May has successfully blotted out the psephology.

    Letters: Playing the game to put an end to tactical voting 2011

  • Wales and Welsh politics needs a psephology fit for the 21st century, so come on guys, get on the phone to YouGov, somebody.

    Archive 2009-04-01 2009

  • When I saw The Professor during Plaid Cymru's conference there was still a bit of fine tuning needed in formulating the psephology.

    Archive 2009-10-01 2009

  • Wales and Welsh politics needs a psephology fit for the 21st century, so come on guys, get on the phone to YouGov, somebody.

    Polls again 2009

  • When I saw The Professor during Plaid Cymru's conference there was still a bit of fine tuning needed in formulating the psephology.

    Coming soon.... 2009

  • Six months after I posted The Price of a Poll it looks like we won't haver much longer to wait for the birth of a Welsh political psephology.

    Archive 2009-10-01 2009

  • After 40 years of psephology, swingometers and tactical voting, the electorate has over the past four or five general elections shown that it has at last worked out how to impose its will on the politicians, even, as last year, in a quite sophisticated way, under the current flawed dispensation.

    Letters: Playing the game to put an end to tactical voting 2011

  • Six months after I posted The Price of a Poll it looks like we won't haver much longer to wait for the birth of a Welsh political psephology.

    Coming soon.... 2009

  • David Lindsay is particularly well briefed on the psephology of this.

    Tony Blair: The Next Labour Prime Minister? 2010

Comments

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  • Derived from the pebbles used to vote in ancient Greece.

    December 9, 2006

  • Democracy is built upon a stony foundation.

    Psephologically speaking, we live in a psephocracy governed by psephocrats whom we elect by psephographs. Psephologists, masters of psephology and psephomancy, make psephological predictions.

    Be sure to cast your ballot ("stone") in the presidential election today.

    November 6, 2012

  • pebble people power

    November 7, 2012

  • Election Day, 2016

    We simply don't know what to think!

    Just how have we come to this brink?

    In absence of knowledge we

    Abandon psephology

    And flee to the solace of drink.

    November 8, 2016