Electoral Systems and Party Systems: A Study of Twenty-Seven Democracies, 1945-1990

by Arend Lijphart

The most fundamental element of representative democracy is the electoral system--translating citizens' votes into representatives' seats. Electoral systems are also the most practical and accessible instrument available to democratic reformers. This systematic and comprehensive study describes and classifies 70 electoral systems used by 27 democracies including those of Western Europe, the United States, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, India, Israel, Japan, and New Zealand. Using comparative and statistical analysis of these systems, Arend Lijphart demonstrates the effect of the electoral formula used, the number of representatives elected per district, electoral thresholds, and five other key features of electoral systems on the proportionality of the election outcome, the degree of multipartisanism, and the creation of majority parties. In the process, he reveals that electoral systems are neither as diverse nor as complex as is usually assumed. The most definitive treatment of
the subject since Rae's classic study in 1967, this book is based on more accurate and comprehensive data covering more countries and a longer time-span and uses stronger hypotheses and better analytical methods. The unique information and analysis it offers will make it essential reading for scholars and students of comparative politics.

Genres: Politics, Political Science, Reference, Academic, Nonfiction

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Arend d'Angremond Lijphart is a Dutch American political scientist specializing in comparative politics, elections and voting systems, democratic institutions, and ethnicity and politics. He is Research Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of California, San Diego. He is influential for his work on consociational democracy and his contribution to the new Institutionalism in political science.

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Electoral Studies
1997

A Critique of Lijphart's Electoral Systems and Party Systems
Alberto Penados

Centre for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, Madrid

Below it will be argued that Lijphart's conclusions with respect to the fundamental theme of the book, namely the impact of electoral systems on party systems, are neither convincing nor substantiated by his data.

It will be suggested that both the formulation of hypotheses and the empirical testing of these are flawed.

........

Lijphart's latest book is the fruit of an ambitious research project on the consequences of the electoral systems in the 27 countries with the most consolidated democracies.

In it he defends the thesis that certain fundamental variables of the electoral system, above all the so-called effective threshold of representation and, to a lesser degree, the electoral formula, have a decisive effect on the proportionality of electoral results and, again to a lesser degree, the fragmentation of party systems and their capacity to generate majorities.