Elections in Europe ─ A Data Handbook

This is the fourth and final volume of an impressive series that presents a systematic, precisely comparable analysis of the voting histories of all the countries in a region (the previous volumes were published by Oxford U. Press). As in earlier volumes, each country entry opens with an overview of its political history, with discussion of the first elections, rulers, evolution of electoral provisions, and detailed description of current electoral provisions. The entry concludes with statistical tables that provide dates of elections, coups d'etat, statistics on the electoral body, a list of political abbreviations used in that country, electoral participation of parties or alliances, referendums, elections for assemblies and parliament, and data on the elections of presidents. Each entry concludes with a bibliography, divided into official and secondary sources. The volume opens with two essays, on elections and electoral systems, by Nohlen, and on elections in Europe, by Nohlen and Stover (both of the U. of Heidelberg, Germany). A postscript discusses the elections of 2009. A glossary is provided. The volume, which lacks an index, is distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)