Authors: Bogdanor
Summary: This long entry of about 2800 words defines elections, discusses their history, explores the significance and complexity of formal, free elections, and introduces academic treatment of elections.
Excluding particular meanings in law and religion, the term 'elections' originates with the Latin verb 'eligere,' which translates as "to pick out." Elections constitute a procedure by which a certain segment of a state's population choose one or more representatives for office. Virtually every society engages in some sort of electoral process, but only about one-third of the world's nations hold genuinely competitive elections.
Although free elections are one of democracy's cornerstones, they originated relatively recently. Conceptually, elections originated prior to the idea of representation. Elections as we know them today emerged in the eighteenth century, and since that time governments have focused on legitimizing rule through effective electoral procedures. Many conflicts over elections center around franchise extension, and the entry provides many illustrative examples. Another important development is the secret or Australian ballot, which was first used in 1856.
One increasingly urgent issue is campaign financing, particularly in the United States where campaigns start long before fixed election dates. In most nations, the state intervenes and regulates campaign financing. However, in some nations such as the United States, campaign finance regulations must be carefully balanced against constitutional guarantees of free speech.
Elections arrived on the academic agenda about two generations ago. The entry concludes by providing a brief history of electoral scholarship as well as some generalizations about the meaning of contemporary elections.