Description
Book SynopsisAn electoral system is the most fundamental element of representative democracy, translating citizen''s votes into representatives'' seats. It is also the most potent practical instrument available to democratic reformers.This systematic and comprehensive study describes and classifies the 70 electoral systems used by 27 democracies - including those of Western Europe, Australia, Canada, the USA, Costa Rica, India, Israel, Japan, and New Zealand - for 384 national legislative and European Parliament elections between 1945 and 1990.Using comparative and statistical analyses of these systems, Arend Lijphart demonstrates the effect of the electoral formula used, the number of representatives elected per district, electoral thresholds, and of five other key features of electoral systems on the proportionality of the election outcome, the degree of multipartism, and the creation of majority parties. In the process he reveals that electoral systems are neither as diverse nor as complex as is
Trade ReviewThis is a must read book and while its data inevitably are now dated, its central arguments remain as strong and relevant to this very day. In short, this is a masterful study. * David Farrell, Chair of the American Political Science Association George H. Hallet Award 2010 Committee *
an incredible amount of detail has been packed into a relatively slim volume * West European Politics *
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