ABSTRACT
Local elections and voting across 40 countries are compared under the headings of local electoral systems, local electoral participation, local party politicization, and local political representation. The different takes on the localness of local elections are combined in an explorative typology, including combinations of vertical dissimilarity (how different elections are at the national and local levels) and horizontal variations (how different local elections are across municipalities within the same country). Avenues for further research are pointed out – not least future research in which the large number of electoral cases existing at the local level can be exploited.
