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Experimenting with French Election Rules: Initial Results
French Politics (2007)
  • Michael S Lewis-Beck, University of Iowa
  • Jill Wittrock, University of Iowa
Abstract
The impact of the French double-ballot is controversial. Some have argued that it performs as a plurality system, while others have said that it mimics a proportional representation system. Still another group says it yields its own unique effect. These conclusions have come from theoretical and observational studies. But no one has presented any real experimental evidence on the question. That is our purpose. We wish to carry out laboratory experiments on electoral outcomes, where the voting groups essentially differ only in the number of times they vote — one-ballot vs two. Here we report the results from two such experimental investigations. They suggest that there are double-ballot effects, namely the encouragement of ideological extremism. Further, these pilots serve as foundation for more extensive experimentation.
Keywords
  • double-ballot,
  • runoff,
  • electoral systems,
  • experimental design,
  • methodology
Disciplines
Publication Date
April, 2007
Citation Information
Michael S Lewis-Beck and Jill Wittrock. "Experimenting with French Election Rules: Initial Results" French Politics Vol. 5 Iss. 1 (2007)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael_lewis_beck/16/