Contextual Determinants of Electoral System Choice - Ã bo Akademi

Table 5.4. Ethnic and cultural fragmentation in democracies. Frequencies.Level of fragmentation Ethnic (N) % Cultural (N) %Low fragmentation 32 50.8 17 27.0Bipolar fragmentation 7 11.1 4 6.3Medium-sized fragmentation 9 14.3 17 27.0High fragmentation 15 23.8 25 39.7Total N 63 100 63 100In comparison with all cases of electoral system choice in table 5.1, the categorywith low level of fragmentation has grown at the expense of bipolar and especiallyhigh level of fragmentation. As for the variable that measures cultural diversity, thelargest group is that with high level of fragmentation – two cases of five belonghere. The categories with low and medium-sized level of fragmentation are alsorather well represented, whereas the category with bipolar fragmentation is muchsmaller than the other three.Table 5.5. Ethnic fragmentation and electoral system choice in democracies. Crosstabulation,Pearson Chi-Square.Level of ethnic fragmentation List PR, STV, AV (N) % Other systems (N) %Low fragmentation 11 34.4 21 65.6Bipolar fragmentation 2 28.6 5 71.4Medium-sized fragmentation 3 33.3 6 66.7High fragmentation 2 13.3 13 86.7Total N 18 28.6 45 71.4Note: Chi-square value 2.335, sig. .506In table 5.5 and 5.6, the association between level of fragmentation and electoralsystem choice in democratic countries is studied. Again, other systems than PR andAV have been chosen much more frequently; the share of other systems being 71.4per cent compared to 28.6 per cent in the category with proportional systems andAV. Concerning ethnic fragmentation, a pattern that contradicts the theoreticaloutlines is observed. Other systems than PR and AV are especially frequent in thecategory with a high level of fragmentation.157