Elections and Ethnopolitics

Free and fair elections are one of the most fundamental characteristics of democratic systems. In ethnically plural societies, elections take on extra significance as the rules and regulations on which they are based provide important levers to guarantee or prevent adequate representation of different communal groups within the key institutions of the state. As a consequence, elections and electoral systems are contested vigorously.The Ethnopolitics of Elections examines the ethnopolitical dimensions of electoral system design, election campaigns, and results. It conceptualises the dynamics underlying electoral politics in ethnically divided societies, and provides empirical evidence and in-depth analysis of recent elections within such societies on a comparative and single-case basis, including Macedonia Slovakia Belgium Malaysia Singapore Rwanda Guyana Trinidad & Tobago Florian Bieber is Lecturer in East European Politics at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. He is also Senior Non-Resident Research Associate with the European Centre for Minority Issues.Stefan Wolff is Professor of Political Science at the University of Nottingham in England, United Kingdom. He is founding editor of the journal Ethnopolitics (Routledge), co-chair of the Specialist Group on Ethnopolitics of the Political Studies Association of the UK, and a member of the advisory board of the Minorities at Risk project.Bieber, Florian is the author of 'Elections and Ethnopolitics', published 2007 under ISBN 9780415400473 and ISBN 0415400473.