We know many things about electoral reform processes. But this knowledge is not very systematic. Much of it is buried in case studies from around the globe. Some surveys have been offered (notably Benoit 2007; Gallagher 2005; Katz 2005), but they have been brief. In order to gain from the knowledge that is already out there, we need to take a step back, survey the terrain, and develop a framework by which we can lay out and comprehend the various crucial elements. This is one of my goals in the following three chapters. In particular, a great variety of motivations has been invoked by scholars studying electoral reforms, but we lack a clear overview. Systematizing knowledge of these motivations is the task of Chapter 2. Likewise, we know many things about the factors that shape these motivations and their translation into preferences and outcomes, and in Chapters 3 and 4 I pull these many strands together.

There are also gaps in the literature on electoral reform. In particular, though the process of changing the electoral system is an instance of policy change, there has been (at least until very recently) little exchange of ideas between policy scholars – who have worked primarily on economic and social policy – and electoral system scholars – whose intellectual backgrounds more commonly relate to elections and parties.