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Although championed by advocates of proportional representation, the single transferable vote form of PR has been used consistently in only a small number of countries – principally Australia, Ireland and Malta. This paper examines the origins and development of STV and its implications for the political systems that use it. The results show that STV varies so widely in its form and application, differing on no less than five major characteristics, that it is impossible to identify any single generic type. These differences are also reflected in the party strategies that are used to maximize the vote under STV. A regression analysis of the various types of STV shows that Malta is the most proportional system, followed by Ireland and Tasmania. Ireland has the largest party system among the countries that use STV, net of other factors.

Party cohesion, party discipline, and parliaments / Shaun Bowler, David M. Farrell, and Richard S. Katz -- How political parties emerged from the primeval slime: party cohesion, party discipline, and the formation of governments / Michael Laver and Kenneth A. Shepsle -- Discipline in the British conservative party: the attitudes of party activists toward the role of their members of parliament / Paul F. Whitely and Patrick Seyd -- Backbenchers with attitude: a seismic study of the conservative party and dissent on Europe / David Baker [and others] -- Cohesion of party groups and interparty conflict in the Swiss parliament: roll call voting in the national council / Prisca Lanfranchi and Ruth Lüthi -- Electoral systems, parliamentary committees, and party discipline: the Norwegian Storting in a comparative perspective / Bjørn Erik Rasch -- Parliamentary party discipline in Spain / Manuel Sánchez de Dios -- The parliamentarization of the east central European parties: party discipline in the Hungarian parliament, 1990-1996 / Attila Ágh -- The challenge of diversity: party cohesion in the European parliament / Tapio Raunio -- Parties and party discipline within the European parliament: a norms-based approach / Shaun Bowler and David M. Farrell -- The costs of coalition: a five-nation comparison / Carol Mershon -- Coalition discipline, enforcement mechanisms, and intraparty politics / Paul Mitchell.

Thurber, J. A.: The study of campaign consultants: a subfield in search of theory, S. 145-149; Medvic, St. K: The effectiveness of the political consultant as a campaign resource, S. 150-154; Kolodny, R.; Logan, A.: Political consultants and the extension of party goals, S. 155-159; Magleby, D. B.; Patterson, K. D.: Consultants and direct democracy, S. 160-169; Farrell, D. M.: Political consultancy overseas: the internationalization of campaign consultancy, S. 171-176