Electoral Systems

An electoral system is a set of rules that regulate an election. It is an important political institution because electoral outcomes can differ depending on the type of electoral system. For instance, candidates representing a small party tend to have great difficulty getting elected as a member of parliament under a single-member district plurality system, whereas they can get elected more easily under a proportional representation electoral system. The four important components of an electoral system are electoral formula, district magnitude, ballot control, and ballot structure. This entry provides an overview of diverse electoral systems around the world and a description of the four components of electoral systems and the mixed-member electoral systems for parliamentary elections.