ABSTRACT
The second approach maintains that electoral systems, as well as other constitutional and institutional features, reflect the cultural and historical contexts to which they belong. This point of view has been stressed, among others, by Lijphart (1991; 1992b) and Lipset (1992). In Lijphart’s introduction to Parliamentary versus Presidential Government (Lijphart 1992b; 1992c), the congruency between particular constitutional regimes and sharply delineated cultural-regional settings is emphasized. In the same volume, Lipset (1992: 207-11) brings out the importance of political culture with respect to democratic tradition. With reference to Belize and Canada as the only states in the mainland region of the Americas having other executive systems than the (limited) presidential, D. Anckar maintains that regime diffusion can also be a consequence of a colonial past (2004: 207). A bird’s eye view of the map of the world suggests that electoral system choices indeed seem to be dependent on the cultural, historical and regional context. Proportional systems dominate in South America and Europe, whereas majoritarian systems prevail in the Caribbean, the Pacific and large parts of Asia. The concept of diffusion is a complex matter, and the way it is approached in this study is derived from a greater context. Diffusion is concerned with a familiar problem in the social sciences, usually referred to as ‘Galton’s problem’, which is the methodological problem of sorting out emulation of social and political phenomena from other causes of variation in social systems (Peters 1998: 42). In trying to explain the spread of democracy and its considerable shallowness, Larry Diamond (1999) presents five models of diffusion. The first one is called the power model: the most powerful democracies of today press the formal model of electoral democracy on the weaker states over which they have influence. The second model rests on more comprehensive efforts on the part of established democracies as well as international organizations. The third model of diffusion is concerned with imitation of political models that are perceived as highly successful, powerful and prestigious. The fourth model rests upon normative judgements on what is intrinsically good, right and desirable. The last model partly encompasses the other four but includes a trend towards global standardization too, that is, cognitive models that have produced increasingly similar state structures (Diamond 1999: 56-8).
