Electoral Rules and Democracy in Latin AmericaOxford University Press, 2018 M03 28 - 304 páginas During Latin America's third democratic wave, a majority of countries adopted a runoff rule for the election of the president, effectively dampening plurality voting, opening the political arena to new parties, and assuring the public that the president will never have anything less than majority support. In a region in which undemocratic political parties were common and have often been dominated by caudillos, cautious naysayers have voiced concerns about the runoff process, arguing that a proliferation of new political parties vying for power is a sign of inferior democracy. This book is the first rigorous assessment of the implications of runoff versus plurality rules throughout Latin America, and demonstrates that, in contrast to early scholarly skepticism about runoff, it has been positive for democracy in the region. Primarily through qualitative analysis for each country, the author argues that, indeed, an important advantage of runoff is the greater openness of the political arena to new parties--at the same time that measures can be taken to inhibit party proliferation. In this context, it is also the first volume to address whether or not a runoff rule with a reduced threshold (for example, 40% with a 10-point lead) is a felicitous compromise between majority runoff and plurality. The book considers the potential for the superiority of runoff to travel beyond Latin America--in particular, and rather provocatively, to the United States. |
Contenido
1920 | |
Research Design and Quantitative Analysis | 1937 |
Why Was Runoff Superior? Theory and CrossNational Evidence | 1956 |
Problems in Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Paraguay | 1996 |
Success in Brazil Chile the Dominican Republic El Salvador | 2014 |
Colombia Ecuador | 2014 |
Is a Reduced Threshold Better? Argentina and Costa Rica | 1932 |
Conclusion and the Future of PresidentialElection Rules | 1951 |
Appendices | 1973 |
Bibliography | 2014 |
Index | 2038 |
Otras ediciones - Ver todas
Términos y frases comunes
Alianza alliance amid AMLO ARENA Argentina Author’s interview authoritarian Balaguer Brazil Bucaram campaign cartel parties center-left Chapter Chávez Chile Christian Democratic coalition Colom Colombia Colorado Party Costa Rica country’s coup Dominican Republic duopoly Ecuador El Salvador Fernández first-round winner FMLN former Freedom House Freedom House score FREPASO Fujimori García Guatemala Honduras Hugo Chávez Humala ideological large number LARR Latin America LAWR leaders leftist parties legislative elections legislature legitimacy deficit level of democracy Liberal Party Lower House Lugo Lula Mainwaring majority Menem Mexico military moderate National Nicaragua number of parties October opinion polls Ortega Panama Paraguay Paraguay’s Partido party’s Pérez Pérez-Liñán Peronist Party Peru Peru’s plurality advocates plurality countries political parties president presidential candidate presidential elections re-election reduced threshold regional average round runner-up runoff runoff countries Salvador Solís surveys tallied third wave third-wave University Press Upper House Uruguay V-Dem scores Venezuela victory vote voter turnout Win uncertain Zelaya