The Impact of Elections on Governing Edited by Paul E. Scheele Praeger Paperback . Westport, Conn. 1999 . 344 pages LC .
Competitive elections are vital to any democracy.
American elections and public policy making demonstrate many positive qualities, but, at the same time, are beset with serious problems. As the essays in this collection make clear, we sometimes get what we vote for, but often we do not. Scheele and his contributors first examine the mechanics of American elections, including candidates' political communication, the role of television, advertising, and polling in elections, the growing problem of campaign finance, and the new roles of political parties in elections. They then turn to the effect of elections on specific policies, including the effect on gender policies, social welfare, and on Supreme Court policy making. In the concluding section, they reexamine election theories and practices, including the myth of electoral mandates, the adoption of proportional representation, the possibility that American elections are actually working well, the proposition that American politics is becoming so atomized that critical realignments may no longer occur, and, conversely, that America is taking on some of the characteristics of parliamentary government.