Electoral Rules: How Effective and Why

Abstract

In a frequently quoted statement, Giovanni Sartori (1968: 273, 1994: ix) defines electoral systems as ‘the most specific manipulative instrument of politics’. This chapter, and the next two, will introduce, discuss and amend the theoretical literature on such ‘manipulations’. More to the point, we will focus on the predicted effects of electoral systems and on the related conditions, as well as on the operationalization of the relevant independent and dependent variables. This will in turn set the appropriate context within which to verify whether, and to what extent, predicted effects have materialized, and/or have varied, in our sample of 21 democracies through the post-war period.