Elections and Voting Behaviour: New Challenges, New Perspectives

A restoration of democracy in Western Europe followed the end of World War II, along with the rise of newly independent states such as India, Israel and the Philippines. The most recent wave of democratization occured with the transitions which began in the mid 1970s in Mediterranean Europe, spreading to Latin and Central America, before accelerating in the late 1980s in Central and Eastern Europe, South East Asia and eventually Africa. This democratization has gradually transformed the traditional understanding of elections. This collection of essays looks at how the inclusion of a wider range of countries is deepening insights into the dynamics of electoral change. Theories which originated in America and Western Europe are often used to understand political behaviour in new democracies. These essays aim to explore voting behaviour from a more global perspective, as the analysis often reveals the limitations of established notions of electoral behaviour.