This chapter examines the way in which proportional representation by means of the single
transferable vote (PR-STV) came to be adopted as the Irish electoral system and discusses …

This article examines three approaches–rational choice, historical-comparative and
institutional–used to study the politics of electoral reform. The first part is dedicated to a …

Three unprecedented large-scale democratic experiments have recently taken place.
Citizen assemblies on electoral reform were conducted in British Columbia, the Netherlands …

Elections lie at the heart of democracy, and this book seeks to understand how the rules
governing those elections are chosen. Drawing on both broad comparisons and detailed …

The impetus for writing this book can be traced to a council block in the inner-London
borough of Hackney. Hackney is one of the most deprived local authorities in the UK, and …

The expanding use of direct democracy in many established democracies reflects a desire
to provide citizens with more opportunities to be involved in the political process. These …

This article explores the prospects of an increasingly debated democratic reform: assigning
political offices by lot. While this idea is advocated by political theorists and politicians in …

Across established democracies, citizens express high levels of support for decision making
via referendums. What drives these preferences remains yet unclear. In this article it is …

Institutions' matter'to electoral reform advocates and political scientists-both argue that
variation in electoral institutions affect how elected officials and citizens behave. Change the …

In spite of the global diffusion of democracy and a general commitment to democratic values,
there is a widespread alienation from the political process in advanced democracies …