Proposals To Reform Our Electoral System

Author : Shaun Bowler
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191653152
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.55/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Limits of Electoral Reform written by Shaun Bowler and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2013-03-28 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Institutions 'matter' to electoral reform advocates and political scientists - both argue that variation in electoral institutions affect how elected officials and citizens behave. Change the rules, and citizen engagement with politics can be renewed. Yet a look at the record of electoral reform reveals a string of disappointments. This book examines a variety of reforms, including campaign finance, direct democracy, legislative term limits, and changes to the electoral system itself. This study finds electoral reforms have limited, and in many cases, no effects. Despite reform advocates' claims, and contrary to the 'institutions matter' literature, findings here suggest there are hard limits to effects of electoral reform. The explanations for this are threefold. The first is political. Reformers exaggerate claims about transformative effects of new electoral rules, yet their goal may simply be to maximize their partisan advantage. The second is empirical. Cross-sectional comparative research demonstrates that variation in electoral institutions corresponds with different patterns of political attitudes and behaviour. But this method cannot assess what happens when rules are changed. Using examples from the US, UK, New Zealand, Australia, and elsewhere this book examines attitudes and behaviour across time where rules were changed. Results do not match expectations from the institutional literature. Third is a point of logic. There is an inflated sense of the effects of institutions generally, and of electoral institutions in particular. Given the larger social and economic forces at play, it is unrealistic to expect that changes in electoral arrangements will have substantial effects on political engagement or on how people view politics and politicians. Institutional reform is an almost constant part of the political agenda in democratic societies. Someone, somewhere, always has a proposal not just to change the workings of the system but to reform it. The book is about how and why such reforms disappoint. Comparative Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.ecprnet.eu. The Comparative Politics series is edited by Professor David M. Farrell, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin, and Kenneth Carty, Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia.

Author : Thomas H. Neale
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1437925693
Total Pages : 34 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Electoral College Reform written by Thomas H. Neale and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contents: (1) Intro.; (2) Competing Approaches: Direct Popular Election v. Electoral College Reform; (3) Direct Popular Election: Pro and Con; (4) Electoral College Reform: Pro and Con; (5) Electoral College Amendments Proposed in the 111th Congress; (6) Contemporary Activity in the States; (7) 2004: Colorado Amendment 36; (8) 2007-2008: The Presidential Reform Act (California Counts); (9) 2006-Present: National Popular Vote -- Direct Popular Election Through an Interstate Compact; Origins; The Plan; National Popular Vote, Inc.; Action in the State Legislatures; States That Have Approved NPV; National Popular Vote; (10) Prospects for Change -- An Analysis; (11) State Action -- A Viable Reform Alternative?; (12) Concluding Observations.

Author : Reuven Y. Hazan
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1317978919
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.16/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Understanding Electoral Reform written by Reuven Y. Hazan and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-06-03 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The field of elections and electoral systems, and particularly electoral reform, has exhibited tremendous growth and cross-national appeal over the last two decades. However, beyond an increased knowledge of voting rules and their consequences for political representation, little attention has been devoted to the question of why electoral systems have recently undergone substantial change in several liberal democracies. This book addresses several new approaches to electoral reform. First, the scope of the study of electoral reform has been expanded. Second, contrary to previous studies of electoral reform, the conviction that the determinants of reform can be explained by one single approach has been replaced by a belief in a more comprehensive framework for analysis. Third, we move beyond political parties (acting in parliament and government) as the most significant source of electoral reform. Fourth, a focus on the determinants of electoral reform allows us to include motivations and objectives of electoral reform. A final advancement in the study of electoral reform is the inclusion of countries other than ‘established’ democracies. This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

Author : Robert L. Tienken
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 158 pages
Book Rating : 4.50/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Proposals to Reform Our Electoral System written by Robert L. Tienken and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Andrew Reynolds
Publisher : Stockholm : International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.20/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Electoral System Design written by Andrew Reynolds and published by Stockholm : International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. This book was released on 2005 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description

Author : Alan Renwick
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1139486772
Total Pages : 327 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Politics of Electoral Reform written by Alan Renwick and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-02-04 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elections lie at the heart of democracy, and this book seeks to understand how the rules governing those elections are chosen. Drawing on both broad comparisons and detailed case studies, it focuses upon the electoral rules that govern what sorts of preferences voters can express and how votes translate into seats in a legislature. Through detailed examination of electoral reform politics in four countries (France, Italy, Japan, and New Zealand), Alan Renwick shows how major electoral system changes in established democracies occur through two contrasting types of reform process. Renwick rejects the simple view that electoral systems always straightforwardly reflect the interests of the politicians in power. Politicians' motivations are complex; politicians are sometimes unable to pursue reforms they want; occasionally, they are forced to accept reforms they oppose. The Politics of Electoral Reform shows how voters and reform activists can have real power over electoral reform.

Author : André Blais
Publisher : OUP Oxford
ISBN 13 : 0191561568
Total Pages : 239 pages
Book Rating : 4.66/5 ( download)

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Download or read book To Keep or To Change First Past The Post? written by André Blais and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2008-05-08 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First past the post is one of the oldest and simplest electoral systems. The logic is simple: the candidate with the most votes wins. It is the system in place in some of the oldest democracies, most especially the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the largest democracy, India. This is also a system that is hotly debated, and proposals for reform are often advanced. This book addresses the following questions: What fosters or hinders reform of first past the post? When and why does reform emerge on the political agenda? Who proposes and who opposes reform? When and why do reform proposals succeed or fail? What kind of proposal tends to be put on the table? Are some types of proposal more likely to succeed? Why? The first chapter undertakes a comparative analysis of the conditions under which reform is initiated. The following chapters investigate in detail the politics of electoral reform in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and New Zealand, the debates that take place, the proposals that are advanced, and the strategies deployed by the actors. These analyses contribute to a rich and nuanced understanding of why first past the post is often challenged and sometimes replaced.

Author : Thomas J. Baldino
Publisher : Greenwood
ISBN 13 : 0313385505
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.06/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Of the People, by the People, for the People [2 Volumes] written by Thomas J. Baldino and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 2010-02-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, primary source documents, including Constitutional provisions, federal and state laws, and U.S. court decisions, explain our voting rights and show how the law governs disputed elections and electoral reforms. The hotly disputed election of 2000 roused a generally complacent electorate to recognize the erosion of a basic rite of citizenship many had long taken for granted: the exercise of their right to vote. Since then, controversial technology for casting and counting ballots, as well as numerous initiatives intended to increase voter participation (or, in the case of voter identification laws, arguably to restrict it), have ensured that possible flaws in our electoral system are never far from public consciousness. We perceive these troubling developments as new, yet from the colonial period onward, our history has been marked by fierce political battles over who is entitled to vote and how. With over 100 documents, this book presents and analyzes the documentary record of this ongoing struggle. Organized chronologically, this volume traces the legislative evolution of the franchise in America, as well as the significant federal and state court decisions that interpret the law to either extend or contract access to the vote. In each chapter a distinctive section offers examples of disputed elections (presidential and congressional) and the reform proposals that resulted, such as proposed constitutional amendments to eliminate the Electoral College. Provides substantial commentary as well as supporting tables, charts, and graphs Accessible sidebar material extends and complements the text Includes interesting and informative photos and editorial cartoons

Author : J. Colomer
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 0230522742
Total Pages : 555 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Handbook of Electoral System Choice written by J. Colomer and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-01-05 with total page 555 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The topic of electoral reform is an extremely timely one. The accelerated expansion of the number of new democracies in the world generates increasing demand for advice on the choice of electoral rules; at the same time, a new reformism in well established democracies seeks new formulae favouring both more representative institutions and more accountable rulers. The Handbook of Electoral System Choice addresses the theoretical and comparative issues of electoral reform in relation to democratization, political strategies in established democracies and the relative performance of different electoral systems. Case studies on virtually every major democracy or democratizing country in the world are included.

Author : Jimmy Carter
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 9780815798637
Total Pages : 372 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book To Assure Pride and Confidence in the Electoral Process written by Jimmy Carter and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2004-05-26 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2000 the American electoral system was tested by a political ordeal unlike any in living memory. Not since 1876-77 has the outcome of a national election remained so unsettled for so long. The past election¡¯s recount conundrum shook the nation¡¯s faith in the mechanisms that support the democratic process. Led by former Presidents Ford and Carter, the National Commission on Federal Election Reform undertook a study of the American electoral system. The resulting report describes where and what went wrong during the 2000 election, and makes clear and specific recommendations for reform, directed at state government, Congress, news organizations, and others. This volume also includes the full text of the Task Force Reports from the Commission.