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More Parties or No Parties: The Politics of Electoral Reform in America

Autor Jack Santucci
en Limba Engleză Hardback – 14 noi 2022

Analiza lui Jack Santucci pornește de la un paradox central al politicii americane contemporane: deși un segment tot mai mare al populației se declară independent și dorește alternative la sistemul bipartid, încercările istorice de reformă au eșuat constant în a stabiliza o a treia cale. În More Parties or No Parties, autorul cercetează capitolul adesea ignorat al reprezentării proporționale din orașele americane de la începutul secolului XX, oferind o perspectivă critică asupra modului în care s-a ajuns la actuala presiune pentru votul prin ierarhizarea opțiunilor (ranked-choice voting).

Ne-a atras atenția modul în care Santucci formulează teoria coalițiilor schimbătoare. Spre deosebire de abordările care pun accent doar pe dorința alegătorilor, el demonstrează că reforma electorală apare în perioade de instabilitate a sistemului de partide, fiind un instrument folosit de politicieni și grupuri de interese pentru a izola sau a disloca anumite coaliții de putere. Stilul este unul riguros și ancorat în date empirice, folosind înregistrări ale voturilor nominale și date de arhivă pentru a explica de ce majoritatea orașelor au abandonat în cele din urmă aceste sisteme.

Acoperă aceeași arie tematică precum Two Parties--or More? de John F Bibby, dar cu o abordare mult mai tehnică și orientată spre analiza instituțională a eșecurilor locale, în timp ce Bibby se concentrează pe impactul general al partidelor mici. De asemenea, lucrarea completează perspectivele din To Keep or To Change First Past The Post? de André Blais, oferind contextul istoric specific al Statelor Unite pentru a explica de ce sistemul „câștigătorul ia totul” rămâne atât de rezistent în fața schimbării, în ciuda nemulțumirii publice.

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Specificații

ISBN-13: 9780197630655
ISBN-10: 0197630650
Pagini: 248
Dimensiuni: 237 x 164 x 21 mm
Greutate: 0.52 kg
Editura: Oxford University Press
Colecția OUP USA
Locul publicării:New York, United States

De ce să citești această carte

Această lucrare este esențială pentru studenții și cercetătorii în științe politice care doresc să înțeleagă mecanismele din spatele reformelor electorale. Cititorul va câștiga o perspectivă realistă asupra modului în care interesele politice modelează regulile de vot, depășind simplul idealism al reformei. Este un argument solid pentru oricine vrea să înțeleagă de ce sistemul american rămâne blocat în bipartidism în ciuda numeroaselor încercări de diversificare.


Despre autor

Jack Santucci este un cercetător specializat în sisteme electorale și politici americane, activând în cadrul Universității Drexel. Expertiza sa se concentrează pe istoria reprezentării proporționale și pe dinamica partidelor politice în context local și național. Prin volumul de față, publicat de Oxford University Press, el aduce o contribuție semnificativă literaturii de specialitate, sintetizând decenii de date electorale pentru a oferi consultanță teoretică noii generații de reformatori politici din Statele Unite.


Descriere

Americans want electoral reforms so that they can have more choice in elections. Recent surveys show that 20 to 50 percent of Americans are open to a new electoral system, while demand for a third party has crept upward since Gallup began asking in 2003. More Americans now call themselves "independent" than identify with either of the major parties, but what happens when Americans try to reform their way out of a two-party system?So far, demand for reform has found footing in a push for ranked-choice voting. In More Parties or No Parties, Jack Santucci traces the origins and performance of proportional representation in US cities, the reasons for repeal in all but one case, and discusses the implications of this history for current reform movements in US cities and states, as well as at the national level. In a two-party system, reform requires appealing to the group that wants to "get the parties out of politics" (or, in modern terms, to "reduce polarization"). This leads to ostensibly nonpartisan reform packages, yet party-like formations emerge anyway, as voters and governments need to be organized. However, such reform is not stable and has tended to make voting difficult for everyday people. Introducing a new shifting-coalitions theory, Santucci argues that electoral reform is likely in periods of party-system instability. The players, according to this theory, are politicians and allied interest groups, motivated to get or keep control of government. Reform can be used to insulate a coalition, dislodge a coalition in power, or deal with noncommittal "centrists." The theory also suggests why reform happens, illuminates why reforms take the shapes that they do, and shows what it might take to make a government reform itself. Using roll-call, election, and other archival data, the book answers several questions: why electoral reforms were adopted, how they worked in practice, why they were repealed, and why only "ranked-choice" was considered in the first place. Drawing on extensive research in cities with experience of proportional representation, Santucci provides a timely and insightful theory of electoral reform with advice for the next generation of reformers.

Recenzii

Regardless of which proportional system one supports, it is important to try to account for the lessons of history. Readers may disagree on what exactly those lessons are, but they would do well to grapple with Santucci's work.
[A] 'must read' for any of us interested in the possibility of electoral reform along the lines of ranked-choice voting.
Santucci makes excellent use of an innovative political theory and a diversity of historical sources to illuminate the 20th century efforts at electoral reform that took place in US cities. His research is meticulous and his conclusions are insightful. He points out the mistakes made by these early reformers, then offers valuable advice about the potential paths to reform that can be pursued by contemporary electoral reform advocates.
This superb, innovative analysis first distinguishes and pries apart the many variants of electoral reform and then combines everything into one comprehensive theory that is strong and convincing. A major scholarly achievement and a hugely important contribution to the field of electoral systems research.
With the lens of his "shifting coalitions" theory of electoral reform, Santucci takes the reader on a deep dive into the American experience with proportional representation at the local politics level, connecting the nature of the reform coalition to the outcomes of reform. A must-read for anyone interested in what is possible for the future of American democracy, and in how much those possibilities depend upon the political maneuvering of reformers versus the details of the reforms themselves.
In two eras, American electoral reformers pinned their hopes on STV—a system of proportional representation based on ranked-choice voting. During the first half of the 20th century, 24 cities adopted the method. By mid-century, all but one had repealed it. In the 21st century, STV became the holy grail for a new generation of reformers, whose ultimate target is the U.S. House of Representatives. From his deep research into the 20th century experience, Jack Santucci draws challenging conclusions about why electoral reforms succeed or fail. His book deserves close attention, not only from scholars, but also from reformers, who ignore his thesis at their peril.
After a long period of dormancy, discussion of alternative ways of electing representatives has sprung back to life in the United States. This timely book is a welcome contribution to this ongoing and important conversation. Santucci offers an explanation of why nearly all past cases of proportional ranked-choice electoral systems in American cities resulted in the system subsequently being repealed. He explains these developments via a sophisticated theory of how issue cleavages shape coalitions for and against reform.
This book provides a detailed history of how these reform efforts manifested at the local level across many cities from the early 1900s through the 1960s. Santucci (Drexel Univ.) considers who pushed for various reforms and their successes and failures. He also seeks to examine the effects of changed systems of representation. For those who wish to understand the different efforts to give voters new options for registering their opinions in local politics, this is an invaluable book.

Notă biografică

Jack Santucci is Assistant Teaching Professor of Politics at Drexel University, focusing on American party politics and electoral systems.