Title: The comparative study of electoral systems /
Authors: Klingemann, Hans-Dieter.
Publisher: Oxford University Press,
Year: 2009
Subjects: Elections Cross-cultural studies.; Representative government and representation Cross-cultural studies.; Voting Cross-cultural studies.; Political parties Cross-cultural studies.
Abstract: "Citizens living in presidential or parliamentary systems face different political choices as do voters casting votes in elections governed by rules of proportional representation or plurality. Political commentators seem to know how such rules influence political behaviour. They firmly believe, for example, that candidates running in plurality systems are better known and held more accountable to their constituencies than candidates competing in elections governed by proportional representation. However, such assertions rest on shaky ground simply because solid empirical knowledge to evaluate the impact of political institutions on individual political behaviour is still lacking. The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems has collected data on political institutions and on individual political behaviour and scrutinized it carefully. In line with common wisdom results of most analyses presented in this volume confirm that political institutions matter for individual political behaviour but, contrary to what is widely believed, they do not matter much."--Jacket.
Contents: Part I. Introduction. The impact of political institutions : a contribution of the "Comparative study of electoral systems" (CSES) to micro-macro theories of political attitude formation and voting behavior / Hans-Dieter Klingemann -- Part II. The project. 'Big social science' in comparative politics : the history of the comparative study of electoral systems / Ashley Grosse and Andrew Appleton ; Methodological challenges : research opportunities and questions for the future / David A. Howell and Karen Long Jusko -- Part III. Electoral participation. Socio-economic status and non-voting : a cross-national comparative analysis / Neil Nevitte, André Blais, Elisabeth Gidengil, and Richard Nadeau ; Electoral systems, efficacy, and voter turnout / Susan A. Banducci and Jeffrey A. Karp --^