Introduction: Parties, Electoral Systems and Political Theory

In recent years, several political theorists have restored and defended the central role played by political parties and partisanship in liberal democracies, highlighting the positive contribution that they can make to democratic politics. Little attention, in this growing body of literature, has been paid to the institutional framework in which political parties are located, and which may significantly shape the kind of party system in which individual parties and partisans operate. One of the key elements of this institutional framework is the electoral system. One question that deserves urgent attention is the following: how does electoral design affect parties and partisans’ ability to make a positive contribution to democracy? While some of the existing literature on electoral systems does engage with the normative dimensions of electoral design, very few political theorists have addressed this question. The articles in this special issue aim to fill this gap in the literature. By re-examining some of the key debates in the normative literature on parties and partisanship through the lens of electoral design, they advance both bodies of work in an original way that will help to set a new research agenda in this field.