Assessing Effects of Reforms: Changing the Electoral System

Abstract This chapter offers the first of several tests of claims about the transformative effects of electoral reform. It examines what may be seen as the ‘biggest’ of electoral reforms: changes in the electoral system. Much of the attention here is directed at the effects of adopting proportional representation (PR). Advocates of PR, and some academic literature, suggest this reform should increase voter efficacy, increase support for smaller parties, and stimulate political engagement and voter turnout. Examining the effects of the adoption of MMP in New Zealand, as well as the adoption of STV in Australia, suggests changing electoral systems had minimal effects. Additional examples presented here from Germany, Italy, and Japan illustrate no evidence that changes in the electoral system affected turnout. Most results in this chapter contradict findings in research using cross-sectional data.