Table Of ContentCOMPARATIVE
EUROPEAN
POLITICS
ELECTORAL
SYSTEMS AND
PARTY SYSTEMS
A STUDY OF TWENTY-SEVEN
DEMOCRACIES, 1945-1990
y
AREND LIJPHART
An electoral system is the most fundamental
element of representative democracy,
translating citizen’s votes into representive’s
seats. It is also the most potent practical
instrument available to democractic reformers.
This systematic and comprehensive study
describes and classifies the 70 electoral systems
used by 27 democracies—including those of
Western Europe, Australia, Canada, the USA,
Costa Rica, India, Israel, Japan, and New
Zealand—for 384 national legislative and
European Parliament elections between 1945
and 1990.
Using comparative and statistical analyses of
these systems, Arend Lijphart demonstrates
the effect of the electoral formula used, the
number of representatives elected per district,
electoral thresholds, and five other key
features of electoral systems on the
proportionality of the election outcome, the
degree of multipartism, and the creation of
majority parties. In the process he reveals that
electoral systems are neither as diverse nor as
complex as is often assumed.
Electoral Systems and Party Systems
represents the most definitive treatment of the
subject since Rae’s classic study in 1967, based
as it is on more accurate and comprehensive
data (covering more countries and a longer
time-span), and using stronger hypotheses and
better analytical methods. The unique
information and analysis it offers will make it
essential reading for everyone working in the
field.
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2018 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/electoralsystemsOOOOIijp
COMPARATIVE EUROPEAN POLITICS
General Editors: Hans Daalder and Ken Newton
Editorial Board: Brian Barry, Franz Lehner,
Arend Lijphart, Seymour Martin Lipset, Mogens Pedersen,
Giovanni Sartori, Rei Shiratori,
Vincent Wright
Electoral Systems and Party Systems
COMPARATIVE EUROPEAN POLITICS
Comparative European Politics is a series for students and teachers of
political science and related disciplines, published in association with the
European Consortium for Political Research. Each volume will provide
an up-to-date survey of the current state‘of knowledge and research on
an issue of major significance in European government and politics.
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Politics and Policy in the European Community
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Political Data Handbook: OECD Countries
Jan-Erik Lane, David McKay, and Kenneth Newton
Multiparty Government: The Politics of Coalition in Europe
Michael Laver and Norman Schofield
Self-Interest and Public Interest in Western Politics
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Government and Politics in Western Europe:
Britain, France, Italy, Germany
(second edition)
Yves Me'ny with Andrew Knapp
Localism and Centralism in Europe:
The Political and Legal Bases of Local Self-Government
Edward C. Page
Electoral Systems and
Party Systems
A Study of Twenty-Seven Democracies
1945-1990
AREND LIJPHART
in collaboration with
Don Aitkin George Th. Mavrogordatos
Asher Arian Sten S. Nilson
Thomas C. Bruneau Dieter Nohlen
Pradeep K. Chhibber Cornelius O’Leary
Ivor Crewe Jean-Luc Parodi
Wilfried Dewachter Mogens N. Pedersen
A.-P. Frognier Anton Pelinka
William P. Irvine Bo Sarlvik
W. Keith Jackson Yasunori Sone
Gary C. Jacobson Alberto Spreafico
Markku Laakso Bjorn S. Stefansson
John C. Lane Jiirg Steiner
Rafael Lopez Pintor Jan Verhoef
Thomas T. Mackie Rafael Villegas Antillon
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Published in the United States by
Oxford University Press Inc., New York
© Arend Lijphart 1994
First published 1994
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press.
Within the UK, exceptions are allowed in respect of any fair dealing for the
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at the address above
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Lijphart, Arend.
Electoral systems and party systems : a study of twenty-seven
democracies, 1945-1990 / Arend Lijphart ; in collaboration with Don
Aitkin . . . [et al.].
—(Comparative European politics)
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Elections. 2. Political parties. 3. Comparative government.
I. Aitkin, Don. II. Title. III. Series.
JF1001.L54 1994 324.6'3-dc20 93-16032
ISBN 0-19-827347-9
3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4
Printed in Great Britain
on acid-free paper by
Bookcraft {Bath) Ltd
Midsomer Norton, Avon
Acknowledgements
This book owes more to the advice and assistance of other schol¬
ars than any other book I have written. First of all, I want to
express my deep gratitude to my team of collaborators whose
names appear on the title-page: experts on each of the twenty-
seven countries—and, in Thomas T. Mackie’s case, on all of these
countries—who provided me with important data, interpretations,
and feedback on the rules and operation of the electoral systems
in their countries. My goal in recruiting this advisory team was to
combine the advantage of collaborative input with the advantage
of single-authored output. I believe that this approach has been
very fruitful, and I can recommend it to other comparativists.
The Central Library of the University of California, San Diego,
has also made an important contribution to this project by system¬
atically acquiring copies of either the official election statistics or
the most authoritative election data for all of my twenty-seven
democracies from 1945 on. I am especially grateful to the three
librarians who worked tirelessly to organize this collection (which
has become the Lijphart Elections Archive in the Central Univer¬
sity Library): Renata G. Coates, Anita R. Schiller, and Terry M.
Vrable.
In addition to my collaborators, many other scholars have given
me extremely helpful advice and constructive criticisms, and I want
to give them my heartfelt thanks as well: Clive Bean, Nathaniel L.
Beck, Andre Blais, David Butler, Gary W. Cox, Markus M. L.
Crepaz, Panayote E. Dimitras, Jorgen Elklit, Andre Eschet,
Michael Gallagher, Bernard N. Grofman, Colin A. Hughes, Mark
P. Jones, Sadafumi Kawato, Ashok Lahiri, Alain Lancelot, Malcolm
Mackerras, Alan D. McRobie, Steven R. Reed, Philip G. Roeder,
Richard Rose, Prannoy Roy, Rainer-Olaf Schultze, Rei Shiratori,
Matthew S. Shugart, Kaare Strom, Rein Taagepera, Michael F.
Thies, and Fernand Walch.
vi Acknowledgements
I also want to state my appreciation to Oxford University Press
editors Tim Barton and Henry Hardy for their assistance, encour¬
agement, and patience. This project was started while I held
Guggenheim and German Marshall Fund Fellowships, and I
gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance that they provided.
In view of the unusual degree to which I have relied on the
advice and assistance from my team of collaborators and many
other scholars, I must make the conventional statement of exclu¬
sive responsibility with special emphasis: I was the final authority
on all matters of fact, analysis, organization, and interpretation,
and blame for any errors is mine alone.
A. L.
