ABSTRACT
The chapter outlines how recent advances in the study of electoral behavior are altering democratic theory. The first section of this chapter examines how one define democracy as it relates to electoral behavior, while the second section focuses on the consequences of electoral system design for behavior and theory. The third section examines four fields of electoral behavior which have specific implications for democratic theory, while the conclusion highlights the benefits of a closer relationship between behavioral and normative approaches to democracy. Serving to increase political competency among the public is the rise of educational attainments across almost all of the advanced democracies. Arguably the internet represents the greatest change to the political systems of the advanced societies since democratization. Globalization presents just such a challenge for democracy, since a country's economic performance may have been influenced by international events and policies, perhaps thousands of miles away, which are not under the control of the national government.
