Reading list

Please note: with the exception of our own publications, LCER does not necessarily endorse the content of any readings in this list.

REPORTS AVAILABLE ONLINE

If any of the links don't work, scroll to the bottom of the page to download them directly from our website.

• English Democracy: Electoral Reform, England the Future of the United Kingdom (2022) by John Denham, published by Unlock Democracy and Compass. Access online
• Electoral Systems and Electoral Reform in the UK in Historical Perspective (2019), by David Klemperer, published by the Constitution Society. Access online
• Everything but the Commons: why PR is essential if constitutional reform is to address Britain's crises of democracy, inequality and the union (2022), published by Labour for a New Democracy. Access online
• Getting it in Proportion? Trade Unions and Electoral Reform (revised edition, 2016) TUC, published by Touchstone Extras. Access online
• Peterloo 200: The Path to Proportional Representation (2019) Owen Winter, published by LCER and Make Votes Matter. Access online
• Politics for the Many: The Trade Union Case for Political Reform (Updated 2021) published by Politics for the Many. Access online
• The Many, Not the Few: Proportional Representation and Labour in the 21st Century (2017, Second Edition) published by LCER and Make Votes Matter. Access online
• The 2015 General Election: A Voting System in Crisis (2015), Published by the Electoral Reform Society Access online

THE BRITISH ELECTORAL SYSTEM

• Cook, R. (2003). Where Do We Go From Here? Chapter 9 in Point of Departure: Diaries from the Front Bench. Simon & Schuster. (ISBN: 0-7432-5255-1) View online
• Bogdanor, V. (1981). The People and the Party System Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. (ISBN - 0521 28525 9) View online
• Bogdanor, V. (1984). What is proportional representation? Martin Robertson & Company Ltd.: Oxford. View online
• Burnham, A. and Rotheram, S. (2024), Head North: A Rallying Cry for a More Equal Britain Orion Publishing Group, London, especially pp. 183- 190 (ISBN: 978-13987-1973-6) View online
• Kuper, R. (1990). Electing for Democracy: Proportional Representation and the Left. Socialist Society.  (ISBN: 9781872481050)
• Linton, M., & Southcott, M. (1998). Making Votes Count: The Case for Electoral Reform. Profile Books. (ISBN: 9781861970879) View online
• Lundberg, T.C. (2007). Proportional Representation and the Constituency Role in Britain. Palgrave Macmillan (ISBN-13: 978-0230006522) View online
• Meadowcroft, M. (2016). The Politics of Electoral Reform. Beercroft, UK. (ISBN-13: 978-0993090936) View online
• Pike, M.S. (2018). The Value of Your Vote: The Case for Electoral Reform in the United Kingdom. (ISBN-13: 978-1979838986) View online
• Ritchie, K. (2016). The Reform Debates. Lulu.com (ISBN 978-1326597481). View online
• Rustin, M. (1985). For a Pluralist Socialism. Verso (ISBN: 13: 978-0860910749) View online

TEXTBOOKS AND ARTICLES IN ACADEMIC JOURNALS

• Amy, D. J. (2000) Behind the Ballot Box: A Citizen's Guide to Voting Systems. Greenwood Publishing Group. View online
• Colomer, J. (Ed.). (2016). The handbook of electoral system choice. Springer. View online
• Curtice, J. & Steed, M. (1982). Electoral choice and the production of government: the changing operation of the electoral system in the United Kingdom since 1955. BritJPS, 12(3), 249-298. Read online
• Curtice, J. & Steed, M. (1986). Proportionality and exaggeration in the British electoral system. Electoral Studies, 5(3), 209-228. Read online
• Dummett, M. (1997). Principles of Electoral Reform. OUP. View online
• Farrell, D. M. (2011). Electoral systems: a comparative introduction. Macmillan International Higher Education. Read online
• Georghiou, E. (1998). What is the likelihood that electoral reform for the House of Commons will happen under a Labour Government with a historic landslide majority delivered to them by the first-past-the-post electoral system? Masters Dissertation, Ruskin College, 1998.
• Ghose, K (2015). ‘Embracing Electoral Reform’, in Nandy, L, and others (2015), The Alternative: Towards a New Progressive Politics, Biteback Publishing, pp. 273-289. ISBN: 13-978-1785900495 View online
• Herbert, C. R. (2024). Labour, the Unions and Proportional Representation. The Political Quarterly, 95(1), 139-147. Read online
• Leyenaar, M. (2011). Reconceptualising Electoral Reform, West European Politics 34/3, 437-455 Read online
• Lijphart, A. (2012). Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-six Countries. Yale University Press. (ISBN 978-0300172027) View online
• Rossiter, D., and others (1999). Changing biases in the operation of the UK's electoral system, 1950-97. BritJPIR, 1(2), 133-164.
• Weir, S. and Beetham, D. (1999) Political Power and Democratic Control in
  Britain, Routledge, 22-78. ISBN: 0-415-09644-8 View online

HISTORICAL INTEREST

• The Report of the Independent Commission on the Voting System (the Jenkins Report) 1998.
• Daniels, S,D. (1935) The Case for Electoral Reform: With an Examination of
  the Principal Objections, George Allen and Unwin The case for electoral reform : with an examination of the principal objections / by S.R. Daniels; with a foreword by the Rt. Hon. Lord Hugh Cecil: Daniels, S.R. (Sidney Reginald): Amazon.com: Books
• The Plant Reports: Report of the Working Party on Electoral Systems, Labour 1993; 
  Second Interim Report of the Working Party on Electoral Systems, 1992; Democracy, Representation and Elections, First Interim Report of the Working Party on Electoral Systems, 1991. [We don't have a copy of this historic document and can't find an online link; if anyone has a copy of these documents, please get in touch]
• The Labour Party and the Westminster Electoral System. Jasper Miles, PhD thesis, University of Liverpool, 2017
• Westminster Hall Debate "that this House has considered e-petition 168657 relating to proportional representation". Hansard, Monday, 30 October 2017

GENERAL TITLES ON CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

• Williams, S., Ryland, S., Rivers, P. and Irvine, L. (eds) (2018) A New Way of Doing Politics: Working Together to Challenge a 'Safe' Tory Seat. Compass Publishing
• Langford, B. (2017). All Together Now: The Progressive Alliance and the 2017 General Election. Biteback publishing.
• Lister, R. (2003). Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives. Palgrave.
• Ballinger, C. (2014). The House of Lords 1911-2011: a century of non-reform. Bloomsbury Publishing.