The Politics of Electoral Systems

Times Higher Education Supplement Review from previous edition It is a treasure trove of information about electoral systems and comprehensively examines how votes get translated into seats across the democratic world

West European Politics This is not just any book on the politics of electoral systems; it is probably the book on the politics of electoral systems ... The authors of these studies are all highly talented scholars, who usually know the comparative literature as well as their countries. In other words, they know what they are talking about, and they have been given reasonably generous space and good editorial guidance with which to do it. The result is truly impressive.

Irish Political Studies This is a very useful book which, not only for its biblical proportions, could justly claim to be a bible of electoral systems

Parliamentary Affairs Overall, this is a superb collection, produced by scholars who know their subject matter and can present it in a very accessible form...this is a book for which much praise is due.


Adrian Blau, Party Politics This excellent book highlights much of the best in electoral systems research. With top-quality authors, rigorous attention to some key issues and first-rate comparative overviews to introduce and summarize the chapters on individual countries, this book will be one of the first to be read by both experts and newcomers to electoral systems.

Canadian Journal of Political Science covers a wide variety of electoral systems from theoretical and empirical perspectives - and it does so excellently. This brand new work is destined to become no less than the bible of electoral systems ... this anthology is already a classic

Political Studies Review In the foreword to the Gallagher and Mitchell collection, Arend Lijphart describes the book as "an outstanding contribution to the electoral systems literature". It is difficult to disagree with this judgement

Acta Politica political science and politics of electoral systems are treated in an understandable and at the same time comprehensive manner for a wide range of national electoral systems ... it is a very useful handbook of electoral systems for both specialists and students alike

Representation It is a valuable and important work of reference for anyone in academia or policy development with a serious interest in comparative electoral systems

<br>Michael Gallagher is Professor of Comparative Politics at Trinity College, University of Dublin. He has also been a visiting Professor at New York University and at City University of Hong Kong. His research has covered various aspects of elections, electoral systems and political parties in a comparative context. <br>Paul Mitchell graduated with a PhD in political science from the European University Institute, in Florence, Italy. After teaching at University College Galway and Queen's University Belfast, he joined the LSE in 2000 where he teaches party competition and research methods. During 2000/01 Mitchell was a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar at Harvard University. He is currently working on an ESRC funded study of the 2003 elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly.<br>

Foreword; PART 1: INTRODUCTION: ELECTORAL SYSTEMS AND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH; 1. Introduction to Electoral Systems; 2. Comparative Electoral Systems Research: The Maturation of a Field and New Challenges Ahead; 3. Why are There so many (or so few) Electoral Reforms?; PART 2: SINGLE-MEMBER CONSTITUENCY SYSTEMS; 4. Australia: The Alternative vote in a Compliant Political Culture; 5. Canada: Sticking to First-past-the-Post, for the Time Being; 6. France: Stacking the Deck; 7. India: Two-Party Contests Within a Multi-Party System; 8. United Kingdom: Plurality Rule Under Siege; 9. United States of America: Perpetual Campaigning in the Absence of Competition; PART 3: MIXED SYSTEMS; 10. Germany: Stability and Strategy in a Mixed-Member Proportional System; 11. Hungary: Holding Back the Tiers; 12. Italy: A Case of Fragmented Bipolarism; 13. Japan: Haltingly Toward a Two-Party System; 14. New Zealand: The Consolidation of Reform?; 15. Russia: The Authoritarian Adaptation of an Electoral System; PART 4: CLOSED LIST SYSTEMS; 16. Israel: The Politics of Extreme Proportionality; 17. South Africa: One Party Dominance Despite Perfect Proportionality; 18. Spain: Proportional Representation with Majoritarian Outcomes; PART 5: PREFERENTIAL LIST SYSTEMS AND PR-STV; 19. Austria: A Complex Electoral System with Subtle Effects; 20. Belgium: Empowering Voters or Party Elites?; 21. Chile: The Unexpected (and Expected) Consequences of Electoral Engineering; 22. Denmark: Simplicity Embedded in Complexity (or Is it the Other Way Round?); 23. Finland: One Hundred Years of Quietude; 24. The Netherlands: The Sanctity of Proportionality; 25. Ireland: The Discreet Charm of PR-STV; PART 6: CONCLUSION; 26. Conclusion; Appendix A - The Mechanics of Electoral Systems; Appendix B - Indices of Fragmentation and Disproportionality; Appendix C: Effective Threshold and Effective District Magnitude; Appendix D: Values of Indices for 22 Countries at Most Recent Election; Appendix E: Web Sites Related to Elections, Election Results, and Electoral Systems