The political impact of hybrid institutions: political stability under mixed electoral systems
Zeit:
29.04.2013 - 12:00
Ort:
A 5,6 Raum A 231
Art der Veranstaltung:
AB B-Kolloquium
Vortragende/r:
Zugehörigkeit des Vortragenden:
Beschreibung:
Mixed electoral systems are very popular both in the academic and in the political world, as they allow for political compromises between the two worlds of representation. They are often associated with middle-ground political outcomes, combining the advantages and representational models of proportional and majoritarian types of democracy. This paper focuses on the political outcomes of mixed electoral systems and questions whether they are conducive to political stability. It argues that mixed systems combine countervailing institutional incentives: the hybridisation of institutional incentives does not lead to middle-ground outcomes. Instead, it generates heterogeneous actor strategies, which leads to greater instability in the behaviour of key actors in the representational arena. The consequence are delays in the formation of stable party systems. Empirical evidence is provided from a large-N study of party system stability in new and old democracies.