A category of its own? Four PR two‐tier compensatory member electoral systems in 1994

• Published in: European Journal of Political Research
• Main Authors: ELKLIT, JØRGEN, ROBERTS, NIGEL S.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1996
• Subjects: Norway; New Zealand; Iceland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.1996.tb00675.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1475-6765.1996.tb00675.x; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1475-6765.1996.tb00675.x/fullpdf

Abstract At first sight, the electoral systems in Denmark, Germany, South Africa and Sweden may seem different and an attempt to categorize them together odd. All four, however, belong to the same category, which Arend Lijphart calls ‘proportional representation two‐tier districting systems’, and the effects of these systems on the proportionality of the representation of political parties are, indeed, comparable. The four electoral systems were the basis of their countries’ general elections during 1994. The results of these elections are used for analyses and discussions of the relative importance of the differences which one also finds between them. The paper ends with an examination of the behavioural consequences of these institutional arrangements, which are also found elsewhere, i.e. in Estonia, Iceland, Norway and New Zealand (in the new electoral system currently being implemented there).