Establishing the Rules of the Game: Election Laws in Democracies

Joseph Garcea is a professor of political Studies at the University of
Saskatchewan.

This book provides a comprehensive comparative overview of some aspects
of electoral laws in more than 60 countries. The central focus is on the
following six dimensions of electoral laws: eligibility to vote,
eligibility to stand as candidates, compilation of voting registers,
composition and functions of chief electoral officers, voting
procedures, and ballot-counting processes.

Election aficionados and academics who need facts regarding those
particular aspects of election laws for research or teaching purposes
will find this a very valuable book. Among its virtues are the clear and
concise writing, and the excellent tables that give a comparative
overview of key facts regarding election laws at a glance. The book will
also prove useful for political scientists who want some comparative
insights on the nature and determinants of similarities and differences
in election laws around the world. Particularly interesting for them
will be the insights regarding the analysis of similarities and
differences among countries that had a colonial relationship in the
past, and also among long-standing and newly established democracies.

Some readers will be disappointed by the lack of information on general
types of electoral systems (e.g., first past the post, proportional
representation), configuration of electoral districts, campaign-finance
regulations, and electoral advertising and communication regulations.
Nevertheless, Canadians who are becoming increasingly interested in
elections as a result of the various debates being generated by
electoral reform initiatives will find this book of substantial value.