Runoff Elections in the United States

By Charles S. Bullock III, Loch K. Johnson

Runoff Elections in the United States

232 pp., 6 x 9

  • Paperback ISBN: 978-0-8078-6515-6
    Published: June 2011

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Awards & distinctions

1993 V. O. Key Award, Southern Political Science Association

The authors systematically analyze runoff elections by assembling a data set that includes primary and general election returns for those states that regularly use runoffs for selecting state legislative, executive, and congressional officials. They also draw upon data for many municipal offices nationwide and examine court cases and legislative efforts aimed at abolishing or altering runoffs.

Originally published in 1992.

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Reviews

"One hopes policymakers will take a look at this study, for it is a careful treatment of real-world questions which will enable political scientists to inform and, perhaps, influence, public policy."--Journal of Politics

"This excellent book will be of lasting value to scholars, lawyers, and voting-rights activists. It fulfills the need for a systematic, empirical analysis of runoff elections and the normative issues that surround them."--Journal of Southern History

"Although the dual primary system of nominating candidates has long been a controversial electoral institution, the nature and consequences of dual primaries have not received the scholarly attention they deserve. Runoff Elections in the United States is a welcome and highly significant contribution to the literature on dual primaries. The book satisfies the need for a systematic description and analysis of the impact of second primaries on nominations."--Earl Black, University of South Carolina, Columbia Campus

"Bullock and Johnson offer a solid contribution to the understanding of the runoff--a controversial, often-used, heretofore little-studied election procedure. This work will be of keen interest to scholars, lawyers, and activists attentive to voting rights and of appreciable interest to those concerned with civil rights more generally."--Harold W. Stanley, University of Rochester