From votes to seats : the operation of the UK electoral system since 1945 / Ron Johnston ... [and others].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Johnston, R. J. (Ronald John)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Elections--Great Britain.

Elections.

Great Britain.

Voting--Great Britain.

Voting.

Great Britain--Politics and government--1945-.

Politics and government.

Local Subjects:

Great Britain--Politics and government--1945-.

Physical Description:

xxi, 241 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 2001.

Summary:

"From Votes to Seats" is a study of the 14 general elections held between 1950 and 1997 in Britain. Arguing that the British electoral system treats political parties disproportionately, the authors show that the amount of bias in those elections results substantially increased over the period, benefiting Labour at the expense of the Conservatives. With the use of imaginative diagrams, this book examines the electoral process in detail, illustrating how it operates, while stressing the important role of tactical voting in the production of recent election results.

Contents:

1 From votes to seats: disproportionality and bias 1

2 Geography, malapportionment and gerrymandering 20

3 Defining Parliamentary constituencies in the UK 50

4 From theory to practice: the components of bias in UK general election results 90

5 Malapportionment: UK style 103

6 The gerrymandered UK 129

7 Reactive malapportionment 178

8 Conclusions: electoral reform? 198.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [231]-236) and index.

ISBN:

0719058511

071905852X

OCLC:

46828792