Shugart, M. y Taagepera, R. (2017). Votes from seats. Logical models of electoral systems. Nueva York: Cambridge University Press

Abstract

Literature on electoral systems is voluminous, but few names stand out as much as Matthew Shugart and Rein Taagepera. In "Votes from Seats" one can appreciate the continuity and - partly - the culmination of decades of study on electoral systems by these authors. They expand the road begun in their previous work (v.g., Taagepera and Shugart, 1989 and 1993), but also make corrections to premises they now consider wrong and refine predictions that were considered suspicions as they openly declare. On the issue of electoral systems, their functioning and consequences, the book is at the frontlines of knowledge. Though it synthetizes concepts and theories that are already part of known paradigms in electoral studies - that will not be considered new for people versed in the literature -, Shugart and Taagepera carry their hypotheses to a new level of empirical proof, offering a more robust look to the mechanisms that unite electoral and political party systems.