Elections before democracy : the history of elections in Europe and Latin America / edited by Eduardo Posada-Carbó..

Includes bibliographical references (pages[259] - 273) and index.

Introduction: Elections before Democracy: Some Considerations on Electoral History from a Comparative Approach / Eduardo Posada-Carbo -- Ch. 1. The Culture of Elections in England: From the Glorious Revolution to the First World War, 1688-1914 / Frank O'Gorman -- Ch. 2. The Hispanic Revolutions: the Adoption of Modern Forms of Representation in Spain and America, 1808-1810 / M.-D. Demelas-Bohy and F.-X. Guerra -- Ch. 3. The Ballot, Land and Sovereignty: Cadiz and the Origins of Mexican Local Government, 1812-1820 / Antonio Annino -- Ch. 4. The Electoral Reforms of 1861 in Ecuador and the Rise of a New Political Order / Juan Maiguashca -- Ch. 5. Priests at the Hustings: Ecclesiastical Electioneering in Nineteenth-Century Ireland / K. Theodore Hoppen -- Ch. 6. Clerical Election Influence and Communal Solidarity: Catholic Political Culture in the German Empire, 1871-1914 / Margaret Lavinia Anderson --

Ch. 7. The Role of the Church, the Army and the Police in Colombian Elections, c. 1850-1930 / Malcolm Deas -- Ch. 8. Voting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Before 1912 / Paula Alonso -- Ch. 9. Fraud and the Passivity of the Electorate in Spain, 1875-1923 / Carlos Darde -- Ch. 10. Building Aspects of Democracy Before Democracy: Electoral Practices in Nineteenth-Century Chile / J. Samuel Valenzuela.

This book examines various aspects of electoral history in Europe and Latin America, from the late 17th century to 1930.

Although the focus is on individual countries, this book also provides a stimulating text on comparative electoral history by looking at electoral culture and traditions, electoral participation, electoral fraud, the role of elections in the process of nation-building, and the role of important institutions, such as the Church, in shaping political values and therefore electoral behaviour. It brings together fresh research from various area specialists, offering alternative views to the understanding of elections in pre-modern, pre-democratic societies. Finally, it attempts to show that electoral practices and institutions, however imperfect, were a necessary pre-condition for the development of representative forms of government.

There are chapters devoted to the experiences in Europe of England, Germany, Ireland, and Spain, while the Latin American case-studies include Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico.