Local Government Election Practices: A Handbook for Public Officials and Citizens

Front Cover
Roger L. Kemp
McFarland, 1999 - Political Science - 495 pages
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
Copyright

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