Evaluating electoral systems

Ferdinand A. Hermens

pp. 233-252

in: Max Kaase (ed), Politische Wissenschaft und Politische Ordnung, Wiesbaden, Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 1986

Abstract

According to Walter Lippmann (1922: 81): "For the most part, we do not first see and then define; we define first and then see." This statement is now as relevant as it was two generations ago, and nowhere more than in the evaluation of electoral systems. We should, therefore, be careful, meaning explicit, in regard to the basic assumptions which predetermine so many of our conclusions in this field.