Choosing Electoral Systems: Proportional, Majoritarian and Mixed Systems

TLDR

Electoral systems have historically resisted radical reform, but recent changes in established democracies and the rise of new democracies have revived interest in criteria for selecting electoral systems. The article aims to outline electoral system variants, examine normative criteria for reform debates, and assess standards for choosing an electoral system. The authors compare legislative elections across 53 democracies of varying development levels to assess how electoral systems perform under diverse conditions.

Abstract

Until recently electoral systems have usually proved remarkably resilient to radical reform. Yet in the last decade this pattern has been broken in a number of established democracies. The emergence of newer democracies has also generated a resurgence of interest in what criteria should be used in the choice of an electoral system. Given these developments, the aim of this article is to outline the main variants in different types of electoral system; to consider the normative criteria underpinning debates about reform; and to evaluate the relevant standards for choosing an electoral system. The article compares legislative elections in 53 democracies, including countries at different level of economic and political development, in order to examine the effects of electoral systems under a wide variety of conditions.