Mixed Rules, Mixed Strategies: Parties and Candidates in Germany's Electoral System [Paperback]

Sixty years of democratic representation in Germany allow us to study the working of a specific type of electoral system, namely a mixed system combining proportional and majoritarian rules, in great detail.Sixty years of democratic representation in Germany allow us to study the working of a specific type of electoral system, namely a mixed system combining proportional and majoritarian rules, in great detail. Mixed systems have figured as a reference point in many reform debates of the recent past. This is because they appear to combine advantageous traits of proportional and majoritarian rules, such as fairness, proximity between constituencies and representatives, and stable government majorities. Mixed systems have also attracted much scholarly attention of late, because they allow us to study the effects of electoral rules while holding many intervening variables constant. But they also attract interest because the proportional and majoritarian electoral tiers affect each other in ways that differ from what would have resulted under pure PR or plurality. All this makes mixed systems a fascinating object of study, and the German system is its oldest and prototypical exemplar.ContentsList of Figures and Tables viiList of Abbreviations xvAcknowledgements xviiPreface xixChapter One  Introduction 1PART I  PARTIES IN GERMANYS MIXED-ELECTORAL SYSTEM 19Chapter Two  The Contaminated Cube Rule 21Chapter Three  Of the Cannibalistic Consequences 43Chapter Four  Contesting Districts: Why small partiesenter (hopeless) district races 61Chapter Five  Coordinating: Locally or nationally? Or what if Germanparties suddenly behaved in a Duvergerian fashion? 87PART II  CANDIDATES IN GERMANYS MIXEDELECTORAL SYSTEM 105Chapter Six  Candidatures: Turning candidates into MPs 107Chapter Seven  Combining Candidatures: Hedging againstelectoral uncertainty 127PART III  MPS IN GERMANYS MIXED ELECTORAL SYSTEM 143Chapter Eight  Careers: Electoral rules and legislative turnover 1ls4