Mark Franklin, Elections&Voters
Elections and Voters by Cees van der Eijk
(University of Nottingham)
and
Mark N. Franklin
(European University Institute Florence, Nuffield
College Oxford, and Trinity College Connecticut)
Draft of December 2008
189
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface [1,147 words]
iii
Chapter 1: Why elections? [9,663 words]
1
Chapter 2: Studying elections, parties and voters [15,134 words]
23
Chapter 3: Electoral institutions [15,831 words]
59
Chapter 4: Voters and parties [15,972 words]
94
Chapter 5: Outcomes of elections [9,715]
131
Chapter 6: The role of public opinion [14,398 words]
154
Chapter 7: Voter orientations [15,089]
189
Chapter 8: Assessing electoral democracy [8,420 words]
226
Guide to further reading
252
190
From the Preface
This is a book about elections and voters. It is intended as a textbook for those who want a general introduction to the topic, but it is not first and foremost concerned with imparting exhaustive factual knowledge about the nuts and bolts of electoral systems, voting arrangements, party systems, and policy differences. Such a book would necessarily focus on only part of what we want to cover, and such books (each one dealing with only a part of our agenda) already exist. This is first and foremost a book about the logic of representative democracy and about the role of the electoral process within this logic. It sees elections as opportunities for strategic action on the part of voters and politicians, and tries to explain how election outcomes should be understood as resulting from the interplay of preferences and strategies, which in turn are constrained and channeled by institutional arrangements and communication structures. In it we hope to supply a picture of how electoral democracy works, together with an assessment of how well it works, using a complete
(though not exhaustive) set of tools and theories employed at the cutting edge of political science
(University of Nottingham)
and
Mark N. Franklin
(European University Institute Florence, Nuffield
College Oxford, and Trinity College Connecticut)
Draft of December 2008
189
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface [1,147 words]
iii
Chapter 1: Why elections? [9,663 words]
1
Chapter 2: Studying elections, parties and voters [15,134 words]
23
Chapter 3: Electoral institutions [15,831 words]
59
Chapter 4: Voters and parties [15,972 words]
94
Chapter 5: Outcomes of elections [9,715]
131
Chapter 6: The role of public opinion [14,398 words]
154
Chapter 7: Voter orientations [15,089]
189
Chapter 8: Assessing electoral democracy [8,420 words]
226
Guide to further reading
252
190
From the Preface
This is a book about elections and voters. It is intended as a textbook for those who want a general introduction to the topic, but it is not first and foremost concerned with imparting exhaustive factual knowledge about the nuts and bolts of electoral systems, voting arrangements, party systems, and policy differences. Such a book would necessarily focus on only part of what we want to cover, and such books (each one dealing with only a part of our agenda) already exist. This is first and foremost a book about the logic of representative democracy and about the role of the electoral process within this logic. It sees elections as opportunities for strategic action on the part of voters and politicians, and tries to explain how election outcomes should be understood as resulting from the interplay of preferences and strategies, which in turn are constrained and channeled by institutional arrangements and communication structures. In it we hope to supply a picture of how electoral democracy works, together with an assessment of how well it works, using a complete
(though not exhaustive) set of tools and theories employed at the cutting edge of political science