Elections: The American Process of Selecting a President: A Comparative Perspective

Abstract

The United States has fallen well behind worldwide trends in presidential elections. Its electoral college regionalizes the contest for the national executive, contrary to a worldwide trend toward direct election. U.S. states continue to select presidential electors via plurality rule, resulting in vulnerability to third‐party “spoilers,” even at a time when third‐party voting is on the upswing. The worldwide trend is toward runoffs to guard against spoilers. Only in nomination methods is the United States the trendsetter, as primary elections only recently have been adopted in other countries, mainly in Latin America. Yet the American regionalized and sequential nomination process contrasts with the national primaries preferred elsewhere.

Who monitors the monitor? Effect of party observers on electoral outcomes

“…The president is directly elected by popular vote (instead of an electoral college) in a majority rule system with a runoff (i.e., a second round). With the exception of the United States, every presidential regime across the globe employs a direct electoral rule (Shugart (2004), Blais et al (1997)). In Argentina, unless the winner of the first round obtains a qualified majority of 45% or a simple majority above 40% with a 10% winning margin, the first two candidates compete in a second round.…”

Spoilery w systemach reprezentacji proporcjonalnej: Analiza ośmiu polskich wyborów parlamentarnych, 1991-2015

“…Ta przewaga Gore'a wśród wyborców Nadera umożliwiłaby mu zwycięstwo na Florydzie, będącej krytycznym stanem dla uzyskania większości głosów elektorów (Herron i Lewis, 2007). Ponieważ w USA większość elektorów prezydenckich wybieranych jest metodą większości względnej, a wyborcy coraz częściej głosują na trzeciego kandydata spoza dwóch głównych partii, proces wyborczy staje się coraz bardziej wrażliwy na efekty spoilerów (Shugart, 2004).…”

Prime Ministers and the Performance of Public Leadership

“…More than twenty-five years later, this way of framing the nature of prime-ministerial leadership seems to have gone out of fashion. Instead, we hear more about 'prime-ministerial government' and 'presidentialization' (the latter term relying upon a largely misleading analogy with the power of heads of government in presidential systems, see Hart 1992; PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2020.…”