Democracy, Parliament and Electoral Systems (Commonwealth Parliamentary Association)

✍ Scribed by Mary Anne Griffith-Traversy

• Publisher: Pluto Press
• Year: 2003
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 171
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The contributors to this volume examine the importance of democracy as a system of goverment. Exploring various forms of democractic government throughout the world, they assess how democracy works in theory and in practice.Chapters cover how to improve democracy using case studies from the Caribbean and Spain; how to make parliaments more effective, looking at issues such as technology and the structure of parliamentary bodies; the comparative benefits of different electoral systems; finally, the contributors examine problems thrown up by various recent elections including the American election in 2000, Sri Lanka, Poland and various African experiences.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 4
l Introduction: democracy, parliaments and electoral systems......Page 10
2 Enhancing democracy: a Caribbean perspective......Page 16
3 Transparency, integrity and funding of the political process......Page 28
4 The Spanish transition: dictatorship to democracy......Page 34
5 Strengthening parliament's role......Page 40
6 Do unicameral or bicameral parliaments function more effectively?......Page 56
7 Information technology and parliamentary effectiveness......Page 68
8 Alternative electoral systems......Page 82
9 Mandatory voting: the pros and cons......Page 92
10 Gender equality and electoral systems......Page 98
11 Holding elections: the mechanics......Page 108
i) Exit polls, time zones and length of elections......Page 116
ii) Opinion polling and the media......Page 123
13 Ethnically divided polities: the case of Sri Lanka......Page 132
14 The United States Presidential election: year 2000......Page 136
15 Disputed election results: various African experiences......Page 140
16 Evolving electoral systems: the experience of Poland......Page 144
17 The New Zealand experience of changing electoral systems......Page 150
Afterword......Page 156
Appendices......Page 158
A: Democracy, Parliament and Electoral Systems: A Commonwealth Parliamentary Association/Wilton Park Conference, 11–15 June 2001......Page 160
B: Reference material......Page 168