Contextual Determinants of Electoral System Choice - Ã bo Akademi

6. CULTURE AND HISTORY: PATTERNS OF DIFFUSION6.1 Colonial Diffusion6.1.1 Colonial Diffusion - All CountriesAmong patterns of diffusion, colonial diffusion is the first variable to be dealt with.Only the first choice in every former colony is regarded as a possible legacy fromthe colonial power. Of totally 268 cases, 138 are first choices of electoral systems,whereas 130 are cases of electoral system change. Of the 138 countries that haveintroduced electoral provisions for the first time, some are disqualified becausethey have never been colonies. Some others are disqualified because they havechosen their first electoral system more than ten years after the end of the colonialperiod. 105 countries meet the requirements of having been a colony during therelevant period, and having chosen an electoral system within ten years afterreceiving independence. 69 of these countries inherited the first electoral systemfrom their colonial masters. Concerning the Somali Republic, both Britain andItaly are regarded as colonial powers, because the Somalian territory comprises theformer British protectorate of Somaliland as well as the former ItalianadministeredUN Trust Territory. Vanuatu, which was jointly administered byBritain and France before proclaiming independence in 1980, is also related to twocolonial powers. Cameroon was administered by both France and Britain, but onlyFrance is relevant to Cameroon’s first choice of electoral system in 1960, becausethe British section joined the Republic of Cameroon not until 1961. 39Of the colonial powers during the second half of the twentieth century, Spain isomitted because its only colony, Equatorial Guinea, adopted its first electoralsystem in 1968 when Spain was a dictatorship. All the other colonial powers arelisted in table 6.1 together with the number and share of colonies that inheritedtheir first electoral system from the colonial power. The United Kingdom had thelargest number of colonies, and almost 80 per cent of them inherited the pluralityformula. Of the 35 former British colonies that adopted plurality systems, 26 choseSMP. BV was introduced in Cyprus, Fiji, Kuwait, Mauritius and Swaziland,whereas India, Jordan, Burma and Tuvalu adopted a mixture of SMP and BV. Ten39 Actually there were two British sections. The Northern section voted for integration into Nigeria, whereas theSouthern section decided to join the Republic of Cameroon (Mehler 1999a: 167).174