The Politics of Electoral Reform: Changing the Rules of Democracy

by Alan Renwick

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.

328 pages, Paperback

First published February 4, 2010

Reviews

[Letotheon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book if you need a comparative source for electoral reforms. Also a good source to gain a first overview of the Theories in the field. Due to the focus on a small number of cases there is a lot of repetition regarding insights and theories.