Contextual Determinants of Electoral System Choice - Ã bo Akademi

(2002: 14). Public opinion, often expressed through referendum, is also considereda force of potential relevance to electoral reform. The New Zealand and Italianreforms in the 1990s are presented as examples of public opinion determiningelectoral system choice. Finally, the authors point out that the relevance and natureof contextual factors varies according to the specific social, cultural, historical andeconomic situation that prevails (2002: 16).The rational perspective contains two dimensions. An electoral system choice maybe a rational solution with regard to the societal needs that emerge from structuraltraits. However, the adoption of an electoral system may also be a rational solutionfrom the actors’ point of view. Every politician in the negotiation process mostlikely prefers that electoral system which he or his party will benefit from; theadopted system thereby being a rational choice for the potential winners. The studyis concerned with contextual determinants but the role of political actors cannot betotally disregarded. More specifically, the dissertation does not focus on actors buton the political context in which actors make their decisions on electoralarrangements. This matter becomes particularly apparent when the associationbetween party systems and electoral system choice is discussed. Electoral systemchoice as a consequence of party system structure or party system transformation isforemost an actor-related matter but has a structural dimension as well. As for therational perspective, I shall distinguish between structurally generated problemsand actor-related problems.There are some important differences between these two. Structural theories arebasically deterministic in nature; they regard the occurrence of certain politicalphenomena as the consequence of certain structural traits. However, structuralexplanations do not comprise the dynamics of the political process. The actorrelatedapproach, on the other hand, is concerned with the process in whichpolitical actors implement decisions on the basis of the existing structural settings.Another important difference is concerned with the distance between theindependent and the dependent variable. Structural theories usually meet thescientific criterion that the explanatory factor should precede the explainedphenomena. Concerning actor-related explanations, however, the risk of explaininga phenomenon by the phenomenon itself is always present (Karvonen 1997: 74-75). Both approaches are, nevertheless, important and may be seen as mutually73