Election systems and electoral reform

Pork-Barrel Politics and Electoral Reform: Explaining the Curious Differences in the Experiences of Thailand and Japan

The Journal of Asian Studies ◽

10.1017/s002191181700002x ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 76 (2) ◽

pp. 283-310 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ray Christensen ◽

Joel Sawat Selway

Keyword(s):

Electoral Reform ◽

Causal Effects ◽

Japanese Politics ◽

The Past ◽

Pork Barrel ◽

Members Of Parliament ◽

Electoral Reforms ◽

Election Systems ◽

New Institutions ◽

The One

A comparison of recent Thai and Japanese politics presents a puzzle. Both nations undertook similar electoral reforms at about the same time, but the results have been dramatically different. Thai leaders are party-oriented and have shifted away from the pork-barrel politics of the past. Japanese leaders and members of parliament remain candidate-oriented and continue Japan's pork-barrel policies. We explain these divergent outcomes by analyzing the different causes of and politics surrounding the electoral reform efforts in both countries. Our findings join with the growing literature that questions the one-way causal effects that are usually purported to flow from institutional changes. Rather, we argue that new institutions, such as new election systems, can be as much a result of political changes as a cause of those same changes.

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Advances in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems

World Politics ◽

10.2307/2010382 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 424-436 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Arend Lijphart

Keyword(s):

Electoral Systems ◽

The United States ◽

Electoral Reform ◽

Significant Progress ◽

The West ◽

Election Systems ◽

Interest In Research ◽

The Comparative Study ◽

Deviant Case ◽

Additional Member

The twelve books under review, written by scholars representing many different disciplines and nationalities, are proof that the comparative analysis of electoral systems has made significant progress in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is still not a well-developed field, but it has clearly become a less underdeveloped one. Renewed interest in research on electoral systems has been stimulated by major changes in election rules—usually in the direction of proportional representation—that have been adopted in several countries, and by a vigorous debate on electoral reform in countries that now rely mainly on the plurality method. The United States is the principal deviant case. Two election systems frequently serve as models for electoral reform: the Irish single transferrable vote and the West German additional-member system.

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