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Over the years, many scholars have examined the relationship between electoral systems and measures of voter satisfaction with democracy. The tendency in these studies has been to explore the traditional Proportional Representation/non-Proportional-Representation dichotomy, assessing whether more proportional systems produce higher levels of satisfaction. This article examines another dimension of electoral system variation - namely the degree to which the ballot structure incorporates ordinal, or preferential features. Given that proponents of such systems extol their virtues as offering voters 'greater choice', it is interesting to explore how this actually plays with the voters. The article makes use of cross-national data from the comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) project to examine the relationship between preferential voting and levels of satisfaction with democracy.

Over the years, many scholars have examined the relationship between electoral systems and measures of voter satisfaction with democracy. The tendency in these studies has been to explore the traditional Proportional Representation/non-Proportional-Representation dichotomy, assessing whether more proportional systems produce higher levels of satisfaction. This article examines another dimension of electoral system variation - namely the degree to which the ballot structure incorporates ordinal, or preferential features. Given that proponents of such systems extol their virtues as offering voters 'greater choice', it is interesting to explore how this actually plays with the voters. The article makes use of cross-national data from the comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES) project to examine the relationship between preferential voting and levels of satisfaction with democracy.

The literature on electoral systems is one of the more well developed within political science. Unlike many branches of the discipline it has successfully developed a series of commonly adopted definitions, measures and standards. Nevertheless, areas of uncertainty and disagreement exist. Using responses from a survey of scholars who study electoral systems we show where some of these areas of uncertainty lie. Intriguingly, some relate to our (collective) preference for a mixed member proportional system (MMP). MMP is the most highly regarded of electoral systems, yet it is does not seem to be the case that we have clear and consistent criteria for ranking this system so highly. Exploring this puzzle leads us to suggest topics where we, as students of electoral systems, may want to consider developing our studies further.