Contextual Determinants of Electoral System Choice - Ã bo Akademi

On the basis of figure 2.1 in section 2.5, which shows the frequencies by year of allcases of electoral system choice, four specific periods are distinguished: 1945-1955, 1956-1969, 1970-1989, and 1990-2003. At the end of each period, thefrequency of electoral system choice has been low. In the following, thefrequencies of electoral systems in each of these periods are presented. The totalnumber of electoral system choice in each category is 36, 73, 63 and 96respectively.Table 6.7. Temporal diffusion, four periods. Crosstabulation, Pearson Chi-Square.Time period Plurality % Majority % PR % Mixed %(N)(N)(N)(N)1945-1955 17 47.2 5 13.9 10 27.8 4 11.11956-1969 45 61.6 6 8.2 16 21.9 6 8.21970-1989 35 55.6 8 12.7 10 15.9 10 15.91990-2003 9 9.4 21 21.9 34 35.4 32 33.3Total N 106 39.6 40 14.9 70 26.1 52 19.4Note: Chi-square value 63.495, sig. .000Some distinct tendencies are discernable in table 6.7. Almost half of all electoralsystem choices during the first period were plurality systems. During the secondperiod (1956-1969) when most of the African countries became independent,plurality constituted more than 60 per cent of all adopted electoral systems. Thefrequency of plurality system choices remained high also in the 1970s and the1980s, but decreased to merely one tenth of all choices during the fourth period.The number of majority system choices since 1990, in contrast, is twice as high asplurality ones. Proportional systems have gained renewed popularity since 1990,representing more than one third of all adopted electoral systems. After havingbeen rather unpopular before 1990, mixed electoral systems represent one third ofall choices during the fourth period. There have, thus, been some drastic changesas to the popularity of different electoral systems during the postwar era. The chisquarevalue is rather large and significant at the 0.001 level.183