Chapter 14. Electoral Arrangements in Systems of Complex Power-sharing

Abstract

Different ways of voting structure the arena of political competition and party system that develops, and offer incentives for elites to behave in certain ways by rewarding those who respond to these incentives with electoral success. The great potential of electoral system design for influencing political behaviour is thus that it can reward particular types of behaviour and place constraints on others. This chapter focuses on two main aspects of electoral arrangements. It first focuses on national electoral systems of Papua New Guinea, Philippines (Mindanao), Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova (Gagauzia), Georgia (South Ossetia), and province wide system in Northern Ireland: how they operate and their consequences for representation of minorities and power-sharing arrangements. It also addresses the impact of electoral administration in these cases. It then discusses the nature of and independence of the body responsible for running elections and provisions made for returning refugees and displaced persons. Keywords: electoral administration; electoral arrangements; minorities; national electoral system; Northern Ireland; Papua New Guinea; power-sharing arrangements