Local Government Election Practices: A Handbook for Public Officials and CitizensRoger L. Kemp Traditional local election methods--district, at-large, and hybrid approaches--are changing. There is a movement toward election reform. The purpose of Local Government Elections is to sort through and make sense of the various, sometimes complex, election system options at the local level. The book provides an introduction to local election practices and a review of traditional election methods. Also addressed are the issues, potential solutions, future trends and implications regarding local government elections. In addition, two appendices detail the National Civic League's suggested election guidelines for both city and county governments. While most published works on election practices focus on the federal and state levels of government, Local Government Elections is one of the few that deals solely with the city and county units of government. Complete details are given for such practices as the ward system, at-large plurality system, combined system, limited voting, cumulative voting, proportional representation, and alternative voting, and their myriad variations. |
Contents
Preface | 1 |
Alternative Local Election Systems | 7 |
AtLarge vs District Election Systems | 18 |
Alternative Election Systems as Voting Rights Remedies | 29 |
The Newest Reform Structure | 39 |
Election Systems and Representative Democracy | 51 |
The Supreme Court and the Voting Rights | 68 |
The Supreme Court on Redistricting | 80 |
The Impact of Cumulative Voting | 325 |
Women on Southern City Councils | 334 |
Term Limits and Local Elected Officials | 351 |
888 | 357 |
Minorities and Women Do Win AtLarge | 361 |
51 | 371 |
Cumulative Voting as a Remedy for Minority Vote Dilution | 372 |
68 | 389 |
Cumulative Voting and the Voting Rights | 93 |
Election Processes and Minority Representation | 139 |
Constituency Size and Minority Representation | 163 |
Diversity of Representation and Election Systems | 172 |
The Election of Hispanics in City Government | 211 |
Minority Vote Dilution and Election Systems | 217 |
Social Backgrounds of NonPartisan City Council Members | 229 |
Blacks and Hispanics in Urban Politics | 237 |
District Elections and Municipal Employee Unions | 272 |
Term Limits and Turnover Among Elected Officials | 288 |
The Coming of Municipal Term Limits | 310 |
Writing HomeRule Charters | 317 |
Voting Patterns in a TriEthnic Community | 392 |
80 | 401 |
The Impact of Proportional Representation | 419 |
93 | 427 |
The Impact of Municipal Term Limits | 433 |
A Different Kind of Politics | 449 |
Reconnecting Citizens with Public Life | 462 |
Model City Charter Election Guidelines | 469 |
Model County Charter Election Guidelines | 476 |
About the Contributors | 483 |
AtLarge Elections and Vote Dilution | 485 |
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Common terms and phrases
Alamogordo amendments analysis Anglo at-large systems ballot black council black mayors black political black population black representation blacks and Hispanics bloc voting charter citizens city council city manager coalition coefficients commission constituency council members council representation council-manager County Court cumulative voting differences discrimination district elections East South Central effect elec elected officials Electoral Structure employment endorsements Engstrom ethnic factors female form of government gerrymandering Hispanic impact incumbents issues jurisdictions Latino legislative majority mayor-council minority candidates minority group minority representation Minority Vote Dilution multimember districts municipal National Civic League nonpartisan elections nonpartisan systems office in 1991 partisan party patterns percent black percentage Political Science proportion proportional representation reform relationship reporting Representation on City response runoff segregated significant single-member districts Social Science Quarterly survey Susan Welch Tabb Table term limits tion town meeting turnout turnover Urban voters Voting Rights Act women