Controversies about Electoral Systems and their Effects

Research on electoral systems and their effects is subject to great controversies. This article aims to present and analyze the different positions in the debate, by reproducing the original text as closely as possible and by including the corresponding context. The presentation of each position is expressed in terms of its cognitive interests, research methods, definitions of concepts and assumed causal relationships between the involved variables, as well as a the particular statements about the effects of electoral systems and the options among them. The article systematically analyzes the theory of electoral systems from a historical perspective by assessing the controversial contributions of five important social researchers, who have made a difference at national and international levels: Maurice Duverger, Stein Rokkan, Douglas W. Rae, Giovanni Sartori, and Arend Lijphart. A sixth author, the author of these observations, is somewhat hidden but undeniably present in the discussion. His own comparative studies on electoral systems —where the analysis of the transcendental contributions of his colleagues come together— have also obtained a controversial acceptance in some of the referred works.