Customer Reviews

Behind the Ballot Box: A Citizen's Guide to Voting Systems

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very well written and easy to read, this book is all about helping you pick a voting system. The professor helps you pick criteria that are important to you. Then, he explains the major types of voting systems, and explains their advantages and disadvantages. Finally, you get help on how to take those criteria and election systems and determine what system you prefer.

In the context of this crazy presidential election, for example, you can compare the advantages and disadvantages of plurality voting v.s. two round runoff voting v.s. instant runoff voting.

A must read if you are interested in voting systems, you are a student of voting systems, or *especially* if you are trying to make an informed choice about what voting system best fits your community.

I've earlier reviewed another book by the same author on the same subject: "Real Choices/ New Voices," as well as another book on the same subject, "Electoral Systems: A Comparative Introduction," by David M. Farrell. I gave the first one 4 stars, and the second 5, which poses a problem. I really want to show this book as a lot better than Amy's other book, but still not up to the Farrell book. But I cannot give it 4 1/2 stars, so you'll have to note, if you read this review, that I certainly mean to rank it higher than the 4 star figure I gave it, but the existence of Farrell's excellent book precludes my giving it a full 5 stars.

Amy states in this book that most proportional representation (PR) advocates fail to acknowledge the negatives of PR and only mention its good points. What he fails to reveal in this comment is that Amy himself, in his other book, is guilty of this! This book, by contrast, is far more balanced, and this makes it a much better book than Amy's other one.

I would certainly be more inclined to recommend this book, as giving a more balanced treatment of different voting systems and their advantages and disadvantages than "Real Choices/ New Voices." However, the very best book on this subject I've seen, excluding a long out of print book by Lakeman and Lambert, is "Electoral Systems: A Comparative Introduction." David M. Farrell does such a good job that it has to be the top recommendation, with this book somewhat behind. Still, you can do a lot worse than to buy this book.