Abstract
Elections are common but choice is rare. Only a handful of states dispense with elections altogether but only a quarter hold competitive free elections (Taylor and Jodice, 1983, citing 1979 data). Most contests are either a one-horse race or a competition in which only one horse is given a clear run. Although elections without choice are important in their own right they also provide an instructive comparison with competitive elections. This is a matter of similarities as well as differences. By considering the functions common to competitive and non-competitive elections, a deeper understanding emerges of the role played by the electoral process in Western democracies.
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