# Scale-example selection and interpretation

The scale examples are selected to make the two released dimensions substantively interpretable without overloading the display. They are illustrative trajectories rather than a representative sample or an independent validation of the posterior coordinates. Published party-history research supports the qualitative interpretation of the cases, not their exact estimated values.

## Trajectory figure

The connected paths show recognizable changes across countries and political traditions:

- Hungary: Fidesz (PartyFacts 1691), 1990--2022.
- Denmark: Social Democratic Party (PartyFacts 379), 2007--2019.
- United States: Democratic Party (PartyFacts 432), 1944--2020.

All election-year posterior means in these windows form the connected paths. The labelled endpoints include 95% latent-position credible intervals. The manuscript uses published historical research to interpret the broad movements without treating the estimates as causal evidence.

The figure deliberately omits standalone party-year anchors. Colour-blind-safe colours distinguish the three paths, while redundant line types and point shapes preserve legibility in monochrome reproduction. Horizontal and vertical bars show 95% latent-position credible intervals at each labelled endpoint. The machine-readable plotting table retains every path observation.