The newest volume in the acclaimed Journal of Democracy series addresses electoral systems and democracy. As the number of democracies has increased around the world, a heated debate has emerged among experts about which system best promotes the consolidation of democracy. Is proportional representation, a majoritarian system, a mixture of the two, or some other system the best for new democracies? This book compares the experiences of diverse countries, from Latin America to southern Africa, from Uruguay, Japan, and Taiwan to Israel, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Contributors: Joel D. Barkan, Jeffrey Cason, Adeed Dawisha, Larry Diamond, Andrew Ellis, Ken Gladdish, Donald Horowitz, Guy Lardeyret, Arend Lijphart, Jih-wen Lin, Emanuele Ottolenghi, Marc F. Plattner, Quentin L. Quade, Benjamin Reilly, Andrew Reynolds, David Samuels, Richard Snyder, Richard Soudriette, R. Kent Weaver