Introduction : new rules, old practices -- Money and candidate quality -- Adapting to the mixed system -- Spending and vote shares -- Party strategies and money politics -- The evolution of support groups -- The creation and costs of informal norms -- Conclusion -- Appendixes -- References --...

This paper focuses on the dynamic interaction among electoral system changes and the electoral strategies of parties in Italy and Japan (1994-2009). In the first section, some key changes in electoral rules are outlined. The second section focuses on the pre-electoral strategies of parties and...