Contamination Effects in Mixed-member Electoral Systems: Qualitative Evidence from the Mexican Case
Keywords:
Contamination effects, mixed-member systems, political behaviour, qualitative evidenceAbstract
In mixed-member electoral systems, there is an interaction between the single-seat district arena and the proportional representation arena. The literature suggests that this interaction (or contamination) raises the number of parties in the single-seat district arena above what Duverger’s Law and the M+1 rule suggest. However, the literature is exclusively quantitative and has enough limitations to doubt if what is observed is actually contamination, and if contamination is actually responsible for the increase in the number of parties. This contribution aims to reinforce the literature with evidence from a series of interviews with party strategists and coordinators in Mexico. The results indicate that, even with other factors at play, contamination exists as believed: parties’ behaviour in the single-seat district arena is based on what they project in the proportional representation arena.
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