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...

There is considerable evidence supporting the prediction of spatial models of politics that parties adapt to electoral rules. But as in economic markets, adaptation can occur either when parties behave strategically in the face of new incentives, or when electoral competition at the district...