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The Concept of Elections in Political Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Gerald Pomper
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Extract

Popular elections are generally assumed to be the crucial element of democratic governments, but the significance of elections is so widely assumed that it is rarely examined. Although studies of voting behavior abound, there are relatively few theoretical or empirical investigations of the effects of voting on the total political system. To clarify our thinking, and as a preliminary to contemporary discussion, it may prove helpful to reexamine some major works of premodern European and American political thought.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , October 1967 , pp. 478 - 491
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1967

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References

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29 The best studies are Angus Campbell, et al., The American Voter (New York, 1960)Google Scholar and Key, V.O., jr., The Responsible Electorate (Cambridge, 1965).Google Scholar

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39 Among the works emphasizing democracy as a system of controlling governors are Lindsay, A. D., The Modern Democratic State (London, 1943),Google Scholar and Mayo, Henry B., An Introduction to Democratic Theory (New York, 1960).Google Scholar