A country's electoral system has a profound effect on its politics; its citizens ought therefore to ask themselves at frequent intervals whether that currently in force is satisfactory. This book does not argue for a particular answer, but aims to help people think about the question. Few realize how much thought it needs. One should not begin by asking whether this or that system is better, but by trying to make precise what we want an electoral system to do. A general election has two effects: it decides the composition of Parliament; and it decides who is going to represent each constituency. The question of what we want an electoral system to do therefore splits in two: how should Parliament be divided between the parties, given the voter's preferences? and which are the most representative local candidates, given the voter's preferences? Neither question is straightforward, but this timely new book helps to explain on what basis we should decide which electoral system we should have.

This book is a practical resource covering standards, rules, and other criteria that apply to elections around the world. The book is designed to help attorneys (and others observing or otherwise participating in the electoral process) understand the general standards and theoretical complexities of the field. Each author presents core principles to explain electoral processes and examines democratic elections in a broader political context. This comprehensive resource will help unite theory and practice.

Approval Voting-Enhancing Democratic Representation in Political Science What is Approval Voting? This book explores approval voting systems and their impact on democratic representation, voter satisfaction, and efficiency. It offers a deep dive into the benefits and challenges of using this system in elections. Chapters Overview 1-Approval Voting-Introduction to the core concepts and principles of approval voting. 2-Score Voting-Compares score voting and its outcomes with approval voting. 3-Condorcet Method-Discusses the Condorcet method and its differences from approval voting. 4-Strategic Voting-Analyzes strategic voting and how approval voting interacts with it. 5-Borda Count-Reviews the Borda count system and its comparative advantages. 6-Condorcet Winner Criterion-Evaluates approval voting against the Condorcet winner criterion. 7-Condorcet Loser Criterion-Investigates how approval voting handles the Condorcet loser criterion. 8-Participation Criterion-Examines approval voting's impact on voter participation. 9-Comparison of Electoral Systems-A detailed comparison of approval voting with other systems. 10-Multiwinner Voting-Explores approval voting’s application in multiwinner elections. 11-Two-Round System-Compares the two-round system with approval voting. 12-Bucklin Voting-Introduction to Bucklin voting and its mechanisms. 13-Majority Criterion-Evaluates approval voting against the majority criterion. 14-Nanson’s Method-Analyzes Nanson’s method and its relevance to approval voting. 15-Later-No-Harm Criterion-Discusses this criterion and its role in voter behavior. 16-Independence of Clones Criterion-Explores the criterion’s importance in approval voting. 17-Instant-Runoff Voting-Compares instant-runoff voting with approval voting. 18-Cardinal Voting-Analyzes cardinal voting systems and voter satisfaction. 19-Ranked Voting-Compares ranked voting systems with approval voting. 20-Later-No-Help Criterion-Investigates this criterion in the context of approval voting. 21-STAR Voting-Introduction to STAR voting and its comparison to approval voting. Who is this book for? This book is invaluable for students, professionals, and enthusiasts seeking a comprehensive understanding of electoral systems, providing essential insights into the nuances of approval voting.

Three unprecedented large-scale democratic experiments have recently taken place. Citizen assemblies on electoral reform were conducted in British Columbia, the Netherlands, and Ontario. Groups of randomly selected ordinary citizens were asked to independently design the next electoral system. In each case, the participants spent almost an entire year learning about electoral systems, consulting the public, deliberating, debating, and ultimately deciding what specific institution should be adopted. When Citizens Decide uses these unique cases to examine claims about citizens' capacity for democratic deliberation and active engagement in policy-making. It offers empirical insight into numerous debates and provides answers to a series of key questions: 1) Are ordinary citizens able to decide about a complex issue? Are their decisions reasonable? 2) Who takes part in such proceedings? Are they dominated by people dissatisfied by the status quo? 3) Do some citizens play a more prominent role than others? Are decisions driven by the most vocal or most informed members? 4) Did the participants decide by themselves? Were they influenced by staff, political parties, interest groups, or the public hearings? 5) Does participation in a deliberative process foster citizenship? Did participants become more trusting, tolerant, open-minded, civic-minded, interested in politics, and active in politics? 6) How do the other political actors react? Can the electorate accept policy proposals made by a group of ordinary citizens? The analyses rely upon various types of evidence about both the inner workings of the assemblies and the reactions toward them outside: multi-wave panel surveys of assembly members, content analysis of newspaper coverage, and public opinion survey data. The lessons drawn from this research are relevant to those interested in political participation, public opinion, deliberation, public policy, and democracy. 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.essex.ac.uk/ecpr. The Comparative Politics Series is edited by Professor David M. Farrell, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin, Kenneth Carty, Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia, and Professor Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Institute of Political Science, Philipps University, Marburg.

This outstanding volume brings together major arguments on what constitutes the best electoral system, particulary on the relative merits of plurality and proportional representation.