Researching Electoral Administration in America: Insights from the ‘Post‐Florida’ era

Toby S. James

Political Studies Review, 2010, vol. 8, issue 3, 357-367

Abstract: This article reviews four new additions to the growing literature on electoral administration. It argues that each book adds usefully to the literature, but that there remains an absence of cross‐national reflection. The books make important contributions by highlighting the importance of electoral administration, which is often overlooked in democracies; by making important normative contributions to the case for particular procedures; and by developing a number of methodologies that may be of use to researchers and practitioners. They remain, however, based almost exclusively on American elections, reflecting the bias of the broader literature. There is a need for a more comparative approach to the study of electoral administration so that: (a) lessons from ‘overseas’ can be taken to the US; (b) countries other than the US spend more time scrutinising the way in which they run elections; and (c) we can test the existing research findings in new contexts to deepen our understanding of frequently overlooked mechanics of electoral administration. Cain, B. E., Donovan, T. and Tolbert, C. J. (2008) Democracy in the States: Experimentation in Election Reform. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. Alvarez, M., Hall, T. and Hyde, S. (eds) (2008) Election Fraud: Detecting and Deterring Electoral Manipulation. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press. Overton, S. (2006) Stealing Democracy: The New Politics of Voter Suppression. London: W. W. Norton and Company. Piven, F. F., Minnite, L. and Groarke, M. (2009) Keeping Down the Black Vote. London: The New Press.

Date: 2010
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