To Keep or To Change First Past The Post?: The Politics of Electoral Reform

First past the post is one of the oldest and simplest electoral systems. The logic is simple: the candidate with the most votes wins. It is the system in place in some of the oldest democracies, most especially the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the largest democracy, India. This is also a system that is hotly debated, and proposals for reform are often advanced.

This book addresses the following questions: What fosters or hinders reform of first past the post? When a…