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 Election Laws and Institutions
One of my primary research interests is on election administration My research to date has focussed on election administration. My book, Elite Statecraft and Election Administration, was published in 2012.
What is Election Administration?
Election administration refers to the processes used to compile the electoral register and count and cast votes. It can make a difference to how many people vote, how easy it is to conduct fraud, whether we have confidence in the integrity of elections and sometimes who wins elections.
Many countries have experimented with election administration in recent years. Estonia has recently introduced internet voting, as this promotional video there demonstrates.
Election Administration can affect turnout
I have recently evaluated changes made to election administration in the UK 1997-2007. The lessons of these changes appear to be that election administration can increase turnout, especially in 'second order' election such as local or European elections. All-postal voting appears to be very effective at increasing turnout. This article was published in the Election Law Journal. The article is:
I have developed a continuum onto which different forms of election administration can be placed according to their effect on turnout. This can be consulted by policy-makers around the world to establish methods to increase turnout in their jurisdiction. This was recently published in the journal Representation. The article is:
The Effects of Individual Electoral Registration on British Elections
I have recently given evidence to the UK House of Commons Select Committee on Political and Constitutional Reform about the likely impact that individual electoral registration will have on elections. Download my evidence here.
I have also had an academic article published in Parliamentary Affairs. It can be downloaded here or, if you subscribe, it is available from the publishers website here.
The Politics of Election Administration
I have studied why election administration might change in a democracy. A number of factors are important. These might include technological change and demographic change. But often the interests of politicians is important, as I have demonstrated in recent articles in the journals British Politics and Contemporary Politics.
James, T.S. (2011) 'Only in America? Executive partisan interest and the politics of election administration in Ireland, the UK and the USA', Contemporary Politics, 17(3), September 2011. p.219-240.
I will also report comparative findings in my monograph called Elite Statecraft and Election Administration.
Useful Resources
The following sources and organisations provide useful information on Election Administration.
Research Organisations on Election Administration: Organisations that research elections in general:
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