Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice: Engineering Electoral Dom

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This book explores the dynamics of electoral system choice and raises questions about the democratic credentials of the early processes of democratization.

FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

Amel Ahmed brings new historical evidence and a novel theoretical framework to bear on the study of democratization. Looking at the politics of electoral system choice at the time of suffrage expansion among early democratizers, she shows that the electoral systems used in advanced democracies today were initially devised as exclusionary safeguards to protect pre-democratic elites from the impact of democratization and, particularly, the existential threat posed by working-class mobilization. The ubiquitous use and enduring nature of these safeguards calls into question the familiar picture of democracy moving along a path of increasing inclusiveness. Instead, what emerges is a picture that is riddled with ambiguity, where inclusionary democratic reforms combine with exclusionary electoral safeguards to form a permanent part of the new democratic order. This book has important implications for our understanding of the dynamics of democratic development both in early democracies and in emerging democracies today.

Author Biography

Amel Ahmed is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: contradictions and ambiguities of democratization; 2. Strategies of containment: the role of repression and accommodation; 3. Strategies of competition: the logic of electoral system choice, single member plurality (SMP) vs. proportional representation (PR); 4. The United States: pre-industrial democratization and the origins of SMP; 5. The United Kingdom: safeguarding the Reform Acts with SMP; 6. France: the tumultuous path of electoral system choice in the Third Republic; 7. Belgium: minimizing the existential threat with PR; 8. Conclusions: rethinking democracy's determinisms; Appendix: the existential threat - electoral viability and ideological radicalism.

Review

'By focusing on the strategies and motives of pre-democratic political elites, Ahmed's comparative analysis sheds new light on the determinants of electoral reform in early democratizers. Her study shows how the careful reconstruction of the politics behind key institutional choices can provide significant insights into the process of democratization as a whole. This book breaks new theoretical and empirical ground, and will constitute important reading for scholars of democratization in all periods.' Giovanni Capoccia, University of Oxford 'Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice investigates the political origins of democracy in the nineteenth century. In a fascinating twist on politics-as-strange-bedfellows, Amel Ahmed finds that economic elites supported democratic electoral institutions to safeguard their own positions in the new democratic order. This wonderful, counterintuitive, myth-busting book holds crucial lessons both for students of institutional analysis and for those who care about the abysmal performance of party politics in the post-industrial age.' Cathie Jo Martin, Boston University, and former chair of the Council for European Studies 'In this comparative analysis of the evolution of electoral institutions in Belgium, Britain, France, and the United States, Amel Ahmed pushes forward the agenda of 'historicizing' the study of democratization. The result is an argument that rethinks these crucial cases but also has a broader lesson: methods of exclusion and containment rather than being antithetical to democracy may, historically, have been at the heart of democracy itself. This provocative and important insight should be taken seriously by scholars of contemporary authoritarianism and democracy as well as by students of political institutions more generally.' Daniel Ziblatt, Harvard University "By focusing on the strategies and motives of pre-democratic political elites, Ahmed's comparative analysis sheds new light on the determinants of electoral reform in early democratizers. Her study shows how the careful reconstruction of the politics behind key institutional choices can provide significant insights into the process of democratization as a whole. This book breaks new theoretical and empirical ground, and will constitute important reading for scholars of democratization in all periods." Giovanni Capoccia, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Oxford "Democracy and the Politics of Electoral System Choice investigates the political origins of democracy in the nineteenth century. In a fascinating twist on politics-as-strange-bedfellows, Amel Ahmed finds that economic elites supported democratic electoral institutions to safeguard their own positions in the new democratic order. This wonderful, counter-intuitive, myth-busting book holds crucial lessons both for students of institutional analysis and for those who care about the abysmal performance of party politics in the post-industrial age." Cathie Jo Martin, Professor of Political Science, Boston University, and former chair, Council for European Studies "In this comparative analysis of the evolution of electoral institutions in Belgium, Britain, France, and the United States, Amel Ahmed pushes forward the agenda of 'historicizing' the study of democratization. The result is an argument that rethinks these crucial cases but also has a broader lesson: methods of exclusion and containment rather than being antithetical to democracy may, historically, have been at the heart of democracy itself. This provocative and important insight should be taken seriously by scholars of contemporary authoritarianism and democracy as well as by students of political institutions more generally." Daniel Ziblatt, Professor of Government, Harvard University

Prizes

Winner of Best Book Award, European Politics and Society Section, American Political Science Association 2014

Review Quote

"In this comparative analysis of the evolution of electoral institutions in Belgium, Britain, France, and the United States, Amel Ahmed pushes forward the agenda of 'historicizing' the study of democratization. The result is an argument that rethinks these crucial cases but also has a broader lesson: methods of exclusion and containment rather than being antithetical to democracy may, historically, have been at the heart of democracy itself. This provocative and important insight should be taken seriously by scholars of contemporary authoritarianism and democracy as well as by students of political institutions more generally." Daniel Ziblatt, Professor of Government, Harvard University

Promotional "Headline"

This book explores the dynamics of electoral system choice and raises questions about the democratic credentials of the early processes of democratization.

Description for Bookstore

Amel Ahmed demonstrates how the electoral systems in place in advanced democracies were initially devised as safeguards to protect pre-democratic elites. Combining cross-regional analysis and detailed cases studies, she develops a theoretical framework which sees democratization as an inherently and necessarily contradictory process. This has important implications for contemporary democratization.

Description for Library

Amel Ahmed demonstrates how the electoral systems in place in advanced democracies were initially devised as safeguards to protect pre-democratic elites. Combining cross-regional analysis and detailed cases studies, she develops a theoretical framework which sees democratization as an inherently and necessarily contradictory process. This has important implications for contemporary democratization.

Details ISBN1107484138 Author Amel Ahmed Publisher Cambridge University Press ISBN-10 1107484138 ISBN-13 9781107484139 Format Paperback Pages 242 Imprint Cambridge University Press Subtitle Engineering Electoral Dominance Place of Publication Cambridge Country of Publication United Kingdom Short Title DEMOCRACY & THE POLITICS OF EL Language English Media Book DEWEY 364.63 Affiliation University of Massachusetts, Amherst Year 2015 Publication Date 2015-01-01 Audience Professional and Scholarly UK Release Date 2015-01-01 AU Release Date 2015-01-01 NZ Release Date 2015-01-01 Illustrations 10 Tables, black and white; 2 Line drawings, unspecified We've got this

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