Elections: What Are They Good For?

Presentation at Friendly House by Jeff Seward. Are free and fair elections really essential to democracy? Are some forms of election subversive of real democracy? What are the implications of different forms of elections? How do authoritarian systems use elections? What reforms of our elections would make them more democratic? Are there alternatives to elections? Or supplemental forms of participation and representation? Before his retirement, Seward was a professor in the Department of Politics and Government at Pacific University. He has presented to us many times in the past.