Context, Electoral Rules, and Party Systems

Posted: 21 May 2014

See all articles by Karen E. Ferree

Karen E. Ferree

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Department of Political Science

G. B Powell

University of Rochester

Ethan Scheiner

University of California, Davis

Date Written: May 2014

Abstract

To address concerns over the applicability of the electoral system literature to new and developing democracies, we present a framework for understanding the interplay between electoral rules and social, economic, and political context. This framework emphasizes that context typically shapes what we call the “behavioral” linkage between electoral rules and outcomes; moreover, the longer the causal chain connecting electoral rules to outcomes, the greater the number of opportunities for context to exert an effect. We then situate recent literature within this framework. Scholarship from a wide range of authors indicates many different ways in which contextual factors ultimately shape the number of parties. However, perhaps the most important contribution of this literature is to indicate how context conditions the behavioral incentives initially generated by electoral rules, thus promoting or undermining political actors' propensity to behave strategically.

Suggested Citation

Ferree, Karen E. and Powell, G. B and Scheiner, Ethan, Context, Electoral Rules, and Party Systems (May 2014). Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 17, pp. 421-439, 2014, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2439672 or http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-102512-195419

Karen E. Ferree (Contact Author)

University of California, San Diego (UCSD) - Department of Political Science ( email )

9500 Gilman Drive
Code 0521
La Jolla, CA 92093-0521
United States

G. B Powell

University of Rochester ( email )

300 Crittenden Blvd.
Rochester, NY 14627
United States

Ethan Scheiner

University of California, Davis ( email )

One Shields Avenue
Apt 153
Davis, CA 95616
United States

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