Legitimacy and representation: A comprehensive study of electoral systems and strategic voting behaviour (ARC Discovery Project administered by UNSW) (2014-2016)
Abstract
What makes a good electoral system? How can it reflect the preference of the majority while guaranteeing representation to minorities? Should voting be voluntary or mandatory? These are very relevant questions for any democracy, but particularly so for Australia: a country which has always been at the forefront of the electoral debate, that proudly strives to represent with fairness all sectors of its very diverse society and where voting is not only a citizen's right, but also her duty. By approaching these issues in a game theoretic framework, we propose to investigate the strategic nature of voting through a comprehensive study of electoral systems. We will then test our theoretical predictions through a series of laboratory experiments.
