A CATEGORY OF ITS OWN - 4 PR 2-TIER COMPENSATORY MEMBER ELECTORAL SYSTEMS IN 1994

At first sight, the electoral systems in Denmark, Germany, South Afric a and Sweden may seem different and an attempt to categorize them toge ther odd. All four, however, belong to the same category, which Arend Lijphart calls 'proportional representation two-tier districting syste ms', and the effects of these systems on the proportionality of the re presentation of political parties are, indeed, comparable. The four el ectoral systems were the basis of their countries' general elections d uring 1994. The results of these elections are used for analyses and d iscussions of the relative importance of the differences which one als o finds between them. The paper ends with an examination of the behavi oural consequences of these institutional arrangements, which are also found elsewhere, i.e. in Estonia, Iceland, Norway and New Zealand (in the new electoral system currently being implemented there).