Electoral Systems

In previous chapters, we discussed the contextual factors that affect the development of political systems. However, the evolution of political systems is not merely a function of the economic, social, cultural, and international environments. Political democracy is also as much a product of human choices as it is a product of context, particularly the choice of institutions that help shape the behavior of political actors. As many scholars in political science have long argued, a crucial choice in building political democracy is the design of electoral systems. Indeed, given that elections are central to the functioning of democratic systems, scholars have sought to understand why different electoral systems are chosen and the impact those choices have on a range of political outcomes, both at the individual and the system level. These outcomes include the quality and breadth of representation, the fractionalization and polarization of political party systems, voter turnout and voting behavior, and the stability of government and the political system. Much of the comparative work on electoral systems has focused largely on the experiences of countries in the West, particularly in Europe and the United States, although more recently there has been a considerable amount of attention paid to the role of electoral systems in new democracies (Ishiyama, 1997 ; Moser, 1999 ; Reynolds, 1999 ; Reilly, 2002 ; Benoit, 2007 ). Since electoral processes and outcomes exert such important effects on the real world of politics, understanding the impact of electoral systems helps connect theory and practice in political science.