Elite statecraft and electoral administration

About this book

All electoral laws produce winners and losers. They can give advantages to some candidates, parties and voters but cause disadvantages to others. So to what extent do political elites seek to change them to maximize their chances of maintaining power? In this book, Toby S. James explores this question by looking at the under explored area of election administration. He identifies why election administration might be used by political elites to win and maintain power. The book explores the role of elite interests in shaping election administration in the USA, UK and Ireland since the birth of democracy in each country. The book offers a new theoretical model, the statecraft approach, for understanding continuity and change in electoral institutions.