Diversity and dissent have been shown to improve decision-making in small groups. This understanding can be extended to the political arena and in turn it can enlighten ideas about policy-making.

This book focuses on the relationship between electoral institutions and policy outcomes in order to effectively explore the impact of diversity and dissent on the political arena. In doing so, it provides an empirical assessment of three key areas:

• the diversity of political information.
• policy innovation.
• pandering.

Drawing on economics, psychology, organization theory, and computer science, this innovative volume makes an important contribution to scholarship on the impact of electoral systems and the democratic nature of governments.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of governance, electoral systems, representation, comparative politics, public policy, democratic government and political theory.