Martin P. Wattenberg

American elections are complex and anything but user friendly, and with the weakening of political parties in recent decades, the high level of complexity has become ever more difficult for many citizens to navigate, which has led to a decline in voter turnout. Low turnout biases election results: turnout decline has been highest among the types of people who most need to have electoral choices simplified for them through a strong party system--those with the least education, political knowledge, and life experience. [back cover].

AUTHOR ANALYZES SURVEY RESEARCH THAT SHOWS VOTERS HAVE BECOME MORE NEUTRAL THAN NEGATIVE TOWARD PARTIES AND THAT THE PARTIES ARE INCREASINGLY IRRELEVANT TO THE SOLVING OF REAL NATIONAL PROBLEMS.

This book provides a comprehensive cross-national study of parties in advanced industrial democracies in all their forms - in electoral politics, as organisations, and in government.

In the view of many electoral reformers, mixed-member systems offer the best of the traditional British single-seat system and PR systems. This book evaluates why the systems have appealed to many countries, and how well expectations have been met.