Current Activities
Shugart's research agenda focuses on how democratic political institutions affect the quality of governance. Related to this theme, he has projects underway on how electoral systems affect the relationship between representatives and their constituents, constitutional reform in Latin America, the evolution of democracy in Mexico, and American democracy in comparative perspective. His research agenda has developed in parallel with his role as an adviser to several constitutional or electoral-law drafting committees, including those in Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, Colombia, Eritrea, Estonia and Fiji.

Perspective
Shugart can provide commentary on elections, election reforms, and constitutional crises in the United States and abroad.  

Publications of Note
Shugart is the co-editor of a volume entitled Mixed-Member Electoral Systems: The Best of Both Worlds? (Oxford, 2001). In this volume, Shugart and his collaborators assess the increasingly common mixed-member system, whereby some legislators are elected in Anglo-American single-seat districts and others by proportional representation. The book concludes that such systems indeed do generally provide the best of both worlds and should continue to be an option for electoral reformers, including reformers in America. In a forthcoming work, "Deepening Democracy through Renovating Political Practices: The Struggle for Electoral Reform in Colombia" (forthcoming in Peace, Democracy, and Human Rights in Colombia, Notre Dame Press), Shugart applies his expertise on constitutional and electoral matters to the crisis in Colombia, providing a framework for understanding why the Colombian congress finally adopted a fundamental change to its electoral system that had been debated for many years, and for which Shugart once served as a consultant. Shugart is also the co-author or co-editor of five books: Seats and Votes: The Effects and Determinants of Electoral Systems, Presidents and Assemblies: Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics, Presidentialism and Democracy in Latin America, and Executive Decree Authority: Calling Out the Tanks or Just Filling Out the Forms?, as well as the volume on Mixed-Member Electoral Systems.

Background Notes
Shugart joined IR/PS in 1989. B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Irvine.

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Last Updated: 09/28/2006 14:04
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