13. The Political Consequences of Germany's Mixed-Member System: Personalization at the Grass Roots?
Authors: Klingemann, Hans-Dieter; Wessels, Bernhard
Source: Mixed-Member Electoral Systems, February 2003 , pp. 279-297(19)
Publisher: Oxford Scholarship Online Monographs
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Abstract:
Addresses the question of the relevance the German mixed-member electoral system has for the party system and for candidate vote, and argues that the mixed-member electoral system does indeed live up to its German moniker of ‘personalized proportional representation’, in that it provides at once individualized representation of geographic constituencies and proportionality. The analysis proceeds in four steps and discusses the impact of the electoral system on the interparty and intraparty dimensions. The first two sections deal with the impact of the electoral system (a) on the party system, and (b) on voting behavior, with special attention to ticket-splitting. The third and fourth sections deal with (a) candidate selection and opportunity structures as shaped by the electoral system and the parties, and (b) the likelihood of a district performance-based personal vote for members of parliament. Concludes with a confrontation of the normative expectations of the founding fathers and empirical reality and speculates about the future of the German party system.Keywords: ticket-splitting; party system; electoral reform; candidate selection; personalized proportional representation; voting behavior; electoral systems; Germany; mixed-member electoral systems; opportunity structures; performance-based voting
Document Type: Research article
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