Parliament the Mirror of the Nation

Parliament the Mirror of the Nation

Author: Gregory Conti

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-04-25

Total Pages: 433

ISBN-13: 1108428738

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The notion of 'representative democracy' seems unquestionably familiar today, but how did the Victorians understand democracy, parliamentary representation, and diversity?


Reflecting All of Us

Reflecting All of Us

Author: Robert Richie

Publisher: Beacon Press

Published: 1999-01-14

Total Pages: 124

ISBN-13: 9780807044216

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A lively dialogue on the power of electoral reform to strengthen our democratic institutions Scholars, critics, reformers, politicians, and activists have for years asked why Americans are so uninvolved in the political process. Minority underrepresentation, the marginalization of progressive voices, the exclusion of the poor-these and other serious problems appear everywhere, from the pages of national newspapers to MTV. Robert Richie and Steven Hill offer a powerful solution, one currently in practice in many parts of the world, including places in the U.S.: proportional representation. They demonstrate that unlike the winner-takes-all system, which always leaves the losers completely unrepresented, proportional representation gives all points of view a political voice; it works by giving citizens multiple votes or the right to vote for more than one candidate, or by giving political parties power according to percentages of votes received. Esteemed thinkers-Cynthia McKinney, John Ferejohn, E. Joshua Rosenkrantz, Gary W. Cox, Daniel Cantor, Ross Mirkarimi, Anthony Thig penn, and Pamela S. Karlan-respond in essays discussing the forms proportional representation could take to operate best in the U.S. Their contributions underscore the concept at the heart of this book: the more people invested in the political process, the more democratic-and reflective of all of us-our system becomes. NEW DEMOCRACY FORUM: A series of short paperback originals exploring creative solutions to our most urgent national concerns. The series editors (for Boston Review), Joshua Cohen and Joel Rogers, aim to foster politically engaged, intellectually honest, and morally serious debate about fundamental issues-both on and off the agenda of conventional politics.


A Right to Representation

A Right to Representation

Author: Kathleen L. Barber

Publisher: Ohio State University Press

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 9780814208540

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"From this practice stems the endemic underrepresentation of minorities in our political life. Enforcement of the Voting Rights Act has led to increased minority electoral success, but the strategy most commonly used - creation of majority-minority districts - has come under attack in the Supreme Court.".


The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems

The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems

Author: Erik S. Herron

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2018-03-15

Total Pages: 1017

ISBN-13: 0190258675

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

No subject is more central to the study of politics than elections. All across the globe, elections are a focal point for citizens, the media, and politicians long before--and sometimes long after--they occur. Electoral systems, the rules about how voters' preferences are translated into election results, profoundly shape the results not only of individual elections but also of many other important political outcomes, including party systems, candidate selection, and policy choices. Electoral systems have been a hot topic in established democracies from the UK and Italy to New Zealand and Japan. Even in the United States, events like the 2016 presidential election and court decisions such as Citizens United have sparked advocates to promote change in the Electoral College, redistricting, and campaign-finance rules. Elections and electoral systems have also intensified as a field of academic study, with groundbreaking work over the past decade sharpening our understanding of how electoral systems fundamentally shape the connections among citizens, government, and policy. This volume provides an in-depth exploration of the origins and effects of electoral systems.


Whose Votes Count?

Whose Votes Count?

Author: Abigail M. Thernstrom

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9780674951952

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"A Twentieth Century Fund study."Includes indexes. Bibliography: p. [257]-302.


The Many Faces of Strategic Voting

The Many Faces of Strategic Voting

Author: John H Aldrich

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 2018-11-20

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 0472131028

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Voters do not always choose their preferred candidate on election day. Often they cast their ballots to prevent a particular outcome, as when their own preferred candidate has no hope of winning and they want to prevent another, undesirable candidate’s victory; or, they vote to promote a single-party majority in parliamentary systems, when their own candidate is from a party that has no hope of winning. In their thought-provoking book The Many Faces of Strategic Voting, Laura B. Stephenson, John H. Aldrich, and André Blais first provide a conceptual framework for understanding why people vote strategically, and what the differences are between sincere and strategic voting behaviors. Expert contributors then explore the many facets of strategic voting through case studies in Great Britain, Spain, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and the European Union.


Electoral System Design

Electoral System Design

Author: Andrew Reynolds

Publisher: Stockholm : International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Publisher Description


Rethinking US Election Law

Rethinking US Election Law

Author: Steven Mulroy

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published:

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 1788117514

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Recent U.S. elections have defied nationwide majority preference at the White House, Senate, and House levels. This work of interdisciplinary scholarship explains how “winner-take-all” and single-member district elections make this happen, and what can be done to repair the system. Proposed reforms include the National Popular Vote interstate compact (presidential elections); eliminating the Senate filibuster; and proportional representation using Ranked Choice Voting for House, state, and local elections.


Real Choices/new Voices

Real Choices/new Voices

Author: Douglas J. Amy

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 0231125496

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

There is a growing realization that many of the problems afflicting American elections can be traced to the electoral system itself, in particular to our winner-take-all approach to electing officials. Douglas Amy demonstrates that switching to proportional representation elections--the voting system used in most other Western democracies, by which officials are elected in large, multimember districts according to the proportion of the vote won by their parties--would enliven democratic political debate, increase voter choice and voter turnout, ensure fair representation for third parties and minorities, eliminate wasted votes and "spoliers," and ultimately produce policies that better reflect the public will. Looking beyond new voting machines and other quick fixes for our electoral predicament, this new edition of Real Choices/New Voices offers a timely and imaginative way out of the frustrations of our current system of choosing leaders.