In Situ and Laboratory Experiments on Electoral Law Reform: French Presidential ElectionsBernard Dolez, Bernard Grofman, Annie Laurent In the modern era, representation is the hallmark of democracy, and electoral rules structure how representation works and how effectively governments perform. Moreover, of the key structural variables in constitutional design, it is the choice of electoral system that is usually the most open to change. There are three distinctive approaches to electoral system research. One, associated largely with economics, involves the study of electoral system effects through the deductive method, using mathematical tools to derive theorems about the properties of voting methods and behaviors. A second, associated largely with political science, has a primarily empirical focus, and looks in depth at how electoral rules impact on political outcomes, through large cross-sectional or case studies. A third, and more recent tradition, inspired largely by work in experimental economics, involves experimentation, either in the form of controlled laboratory experiments or in the form of in situ field studies. This volume employs the third approach to report on experiments that look at alternatives to the present two round (majority runoff) system used for the election of French presidents. This system is of considerable importance not just because of its use in France but also because of its wide adoption in presidential elections in new democracies, such as Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia and Ukraine. The editors have assembled the top experimental economists and political scientists specializing in French politics to provide in-depth analysis of the double ballot electoral system, and, more broadly, of the effect of electoral rules on the number of candidates, voter strategies, and ideological choice. Ultimately, the editors and contributors argue that experimental methods have great potential to inform our understanding of institutional mechanisms in the context of voting behavior. |
Contents
Experimental Evidence Michel Balinski and Rida Laraki | 13 |
A Field Experiment | 55 |
Framedfield Experiment on Approval Voting | 69 |
Lessons from In Situ Experiments during French Elections 91 | 90 |
Measuring Duvergerian Effects of the French Majority | 105 |
American Experiments | 123 |
Glossary of Key Electoral System Terms 143 | 142 |
References | 155 |
Other editions - View all
In Situ and Laboratory Experiments on Electoral Law Reform Bernard Dolez,Bernard N. Grofman,Annie Laurent No preview available - 2011 |
In Situ and Laboratory Experiments on Electoral Law Reform: French ... Bernard Dolez,Bernard Grofman,Annie Laurent No preview available - 2010 |
In Situ and Laboratory Experiments on Electoral Law Reform: French ... Bernard Dolez,Bernard Grofman,Annie Laurent No preview available - 2013 |
Common terms and phrases
ANOVA approval voting Average number Balinski and Laraki ballot papers Baujard and Igersheim Bayrou behavior Besancenot Blais Borda Bové chances of winning Condorcet winner Coombs Dolez Duverger electoral rules electoral system Estimated marginal means evaluate experimental expression France French Politics French presidential election Grofman Hare method highest grade Igersheim Jacques Chirac Jospin laboratory experiments Laguiller Laraki Laslier legislative elections Lewis-Beck Lille list PR majority judgment ballots majority-gauge majority-grade majority-ranking mechanism mixed member systems Nicolas Sarkozy Nihous number of candidates official vote Orsay outcome Paris participants Percentage plurality system plurality voting system Political Science Politique polling Polytechnique position precincts of Orsay preferences proportional representation protocol Royal runoff system Sarkozy Schivardi score seats second round sincere voting single ballot single transferable vote Social Choice Straeten strategic voting Taagepera Table three precincts two-round system University Villiers vote share votes cast voting method voting rule Voynet