Definition
Electoral system. An electoral system is the set of rules employed to summon a representative body on the basis of the preferences expressed by a group of electors, through a given voting procedure. The chapter compares electoral systems with reference to the election of a Chamber of a democratic Parliament.
Introduction and Overview
An electoral systemis the set of rules employed to summon a representative body on the basis of the preferences expressed by a group of electors, through a given voting procedure. This definition applies to many settings, from parents’ circles to supernational organizations; in this survey we will deal only with the election of a Chamber of a Parliament. We will also limit the discussion to the context that is usual in present-time democracies; hence we will assume (a) that all voters express the same number of votes (very often one, but there are many exceptions) and (b) that within the set of allowed alternatives, there are no constraints on...
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Further Reading
Farrell DM (2011) Electoral systems: a comparative introduction, 2nd edn. Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, Basingstoke
Gallagher M (ed) (2005) The politics of electoral systems. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
Norris P (2004) Electoral engineering. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
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Ortona, G. (2019). Electoral Systems. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7753-2_733
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