Synopses & Reviews
In recent years there has been a marked resurgence of interest in the effects of electoral laws on important aspects of politics such as party competition. In this volume, a distinguished group of scholars looks at the impact of one set of electoral rules--the single non-transferable vote--on electoral competition in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Under this plan citizens are allowed one vote even though there is more than one seat to be filled. In comparative studies of the adoption and rejection of the single nontransferable vote and the consequences of its use across different settings, the contributors explore the differences in the operation and effects of the application of the same rule in different countries. Arguing that any single feature of a political system is embedded in a political structure and cannot be understood in isolation, the authors demonstrate how the same rule can have different consequences depending on the context in which it operates. The contributors offer fresh insights into the comparative study of political institutions as well as into the operation of particular electoral rules.
In addition to the editors, the contributors include Kathleen Bawn, John Boland, Jean-Marie Bouissou, Gary Cox, John Fu-Sheng Hsieh, Arend Lijphart, Emerson Niou, Steven R. Reed, and Frances Rosenbluth, among others.
Bernard Grofman is Professor of Political Science, University of California at Irvine. Edwin A. Winckler is at the East Asian Institute, Columbia University. Brian Woodall is Assistant Professor in the School of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology. Sung-Chull Lee is Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of California at Irvine.
Synopsis
Considers how electoral rules affect election results and argues that the impact of the same electoral systems is different from one culture to another
Table of Contents
The politics of reform in Japan's lower house electoral system / Brian Woodall -- Politics of electoral reforms and practices: the case of Korean SNTV elections under the Yushin Constitution / Sung-Chull Lee -- Manipulating the electoral system under the SNTV: the case of the Republic of China on Taiwan / John Fuh-sheng Hsieh -- Organizing one's support base under the SNTV: the case of Japanese Koenkai / Jean-Marie Bouissou -- Campaigning for the Japanese diet / Haruhiro Fukui and Shigeko N. Fukai -- Candidate evaluation and voting choice under the Japanese electoral system / Ichiro Miyake -- Campaigning in an SNTV system: the case of the Kuomintang in Taiwan / I-Chou Liu -- The fragmentation effect of SNTV in Japan / Steven R. Reed and John M. Bolland -- The SNTV and the politics of electoral systems in Korea / Jongryn Mo and David Brady -- The votes mattered: decreasing party support under the Two-Member-District SNTV in Korea (1973-1978) / Kap-Yun Lee -- Electoral equilibria on Taiwan / Edwin A. Winckler -- SNTV and STV compared: their political consequences in Japan, Ireland, and Malta / Arend Lijphart -- Measuring the ties that bind: electoral cohesiveness in four democracies / Kathleen Bawn, Gary W. Cox, and Frances Rosenbluth -- SNTV, STV, and Single-Member-District systems: theoretical comparisons and contrasts / Bernard Grofman -- The electoral economy of SNTV in Japan and Taiwan / Edwin A. Winckler -- Seat bonuses under the single non-transferable vote system: evidence from Japan and Taiwan / Gary W. Cox and Emerson Niou -- SNTV: An inventory of theoretically derived propositions and a brief review of the evidence from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Alabama / Bernard Grofman.