Coordination between electoral arenas in countries with multi-level political systems.

Authors

  • IGNACIO LAGO y JOSÉ RAMÓN MONTERO

Keywords:

Coordination, multi-level systems, electoral systems, splits, party systems, Spain.

Abstract

This paper shows the existence of a coordination dilemma in multi-level countries that hold elections for different parliaments, at different territorial levels, and with different electoral rules. With evidence from Spain, our analysis identifies interaction or contamination effects between national and sub-national electoral arenas that generate, just as in most mixed-member electoral systems, a centrifugal force that increases the number of electoral parties in national elections. The incentives that solve this coordination dilemma faced by small regional or local parties are theoretically discussed and empirically tested.

Published

2008-06-11

Issue

Section

ARTICLES