The Psychological Impact of Electoral Laws: Measuring Duverger's Elusive Factor

André Blais and R. K. Carty

British Journal of Political Science, 1991, vol. 21, issue 1, 79-93

Abstract: Duverger's law regarding the impact of electoral systems on party competition depends upon two effects: the mechanical and the psychological. The former is well defined and well documented, whereas the latter has more often been a matter for theoretical speculation. In this article we provide an operational definition of the psychological effect of electoral systems and measure its impact across twenty democratic systems over more than a century. Our findings suggest that it does exist, that it works as Duverger predicted and that its impact is about the same magnitude as the mechanical effect.

Date: 1991
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