Sorting out mechanical and psychological effects in candidate elections: An appraisal with experimental data
Résumé
Most of the literature about electoral systems is based on Maurice Duverger’s intuitions. Duverger claims that electoral systems have systematic effects (hence the well-known ‘laws’) on the structure of electoral competition. In particular, the plurality rule entails a two-party system whereas a majority run-off leads to multiparty competition. Duverger argues that this can be explained by the conjunction of two effects: a mechanical effect and a psychological effect (...).