Wrestling with Democracy
Voting Systems As Politics in the 20th Century West
1st Edition
Published on 17. June 2013
408 pages
978-1-4426-6273-5 (ISBN)
Description
Though sharing broadly similar processes of economic and political development from the mid-to-late nineteenth century onward, western countries have diverged greatly in their choice of voting systems: most of Europe shifted to proportional voting around the First World War, while Anglo-American countries have stuck with relative majority or majority voting rules. Using a comparative historical approach, Wrestling with Democracy examines why voting systems have (or have not) changed in western industrialized countries over the past century.
In this first single-volume study of voting system reform covering all western industrialized countries, Dennis Pilon reviews national efforts in this area over four timespans: the nineteenth century, the period around the First World War, the Cold War, and the 1990s. Pilon provocatively argues that voting system reform has been a part of larger struggles over defining democracy itself, highlighting previously overlooked episodes of reform and challenging widely held assumptions about institutional change.
In this first single-volume study of voting system reform covering all western industrialized countries, Dennis Pilon reviews national efforts in this area over four timespans: the nineteenth century, the period around the First World War, the Cold War, and the 1990s. Pilon provocatively argues that voting system reform has been a part of larger struggles over defining democracy itself, highlighting previously overlooked episodes of reform and challenging widely held assumptions about institutional change.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Digital original
File size
1,14 MB
ISBN-13
978-1-4426-6273-5 (9781442662735)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
04/2013
University of Toronto Press
€53.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Dennis Pilon is an associate professor in the Department of
Political Science at York University.
Political Science at York University.
Content
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Contextualizing Democracy
Chapter 3: Prologue to the Democratic Era
Chapter 4: Facing the Democratic Challenge 1900-1918
Chapter 5: Struggling with Democracy 1919-39
Chapter 6: The Cold War Democratic Compromise 1940-1969
Chapter 7: The Neoliberal Democratic Realignment 1970-2000
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Chapter 2: Contextualizing Democracy
Chapter 3: Prologue to the Democratic Era
Chapter 4: Facing the Democratic Challenge 1900-1918
Chapter 5: Struggling with Democracy 1919-39
Chapter 6: The Cold War Democratic Compromise 1940-1969
Chapter 7: The Neoliberal Democratic Realignment 1970-2000
Chapter 8: Conclusion
