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36 Comp. Pol. Stud. 319 (2003)
Two-Round Electoral Systems and Democracy

handle is hein.journals/compls36 and id is 312 raw text is: 


















        TWO-ROUND ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

                                          AND DEMOCRACY




                                                           SARAH BIRCH
                                                        University   of Essex



Taking as its point of departure a little-noted recent increase in use of two-round electoral sys-
tems in parliamentary elections, this article assesses the impact of such systems on democratic
performance. It argues that the possibility of holding a second round of voting is a destabilizing
factor that inhibits democratic development and encourages the use of nonelectoral means of
exercising power. This is because the institution of the double ballot works to fragment the party
system by establishing district-specific strategic incentives and by diminishing the element of
uncertainty that is key to securing cooperation by important political actors. This proposition is
tested on a data set of all states that as of 1 January 1999 held elections to the lower houses of their
national assemblies, as well as on a smaller database of democratizing countries.


Keywords: elections, electoral systems, democratization, authoritarianism, uncertainty





S ince the beginnings of democracy, the principle of majority rule-that
     no decision should be opposed  by more  than support it-has  been closely
associated  with the achievement   of fair and  equitable outcomes.   When   it
comes  to the selection of leaders, this principle has often been interpreted to
mean  that each leader should have majority support in the territorial (or other)
unit from which  she or he is elected. The traditional means of achieving such
a result is through multiple rounds in which voting  is repeated until one can-
didate has more  than half the votes. But though election through multiple bal-
loting is possibly the world's oldest electoral system, its effects are not well



AUTHOR'  S NOTE: This article has its origins in a rather differentpaperpresented at a seminar
in the Department ofGovernment, University ofEssex, in autumn 1997. Iam thankful to the sem-
inarparticipantsfor their many useful comments, which helped to shape thefurther development
of the argument. Iam also grateful to Hugh Ward and to John Bartle for their help with later ver-
sions ofthe text, and to two anonymous reviewers. Finally, thanks go to the Economic and Social
Research Council for grant No. L213252021, which helped to fund the research on which the
article is based.
COMPARATIVE  POLITICAL STUDIES, Vol. 36 No. 3, April 2003 319-344
DOI: 10.1177/0010414002250678
0 2003 Sage Publications


319

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