Book Reviews : Cumulative Voting: An Effective Electoral Device in Illinois Politics. By GEORGE S. BLAIR. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1960. Pp. x, 145.)

• Published date: 01 September 1960
• Date: 01 September 1960
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591296001300320
• Subject Matter: Articles

807
Cumulative Voting
:
An Effective Electoral Device in Illinois Politics. By GEORGE
S. BLAIR. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1960. Pp. x, 145.)
Illinois’ cumulative voting system has been an unusual electoral practice
in the United States for eight decades. This short but comprehensive volume
seeks to analyze the results of the experiment.
Cumulative voting was initiated in 1870 to provide minority representation
for Republicans in Democratic southern Illinios and for Democrats in Republi-
can northern Illinois. To accomplish this goal each state sentatorial district,
which has one member in the upper house, has three representatives in the lower
house. Each voter is allowed three votes for representatives. All of the votes
may be cast for one individual, or divided between two or three candidates.
The system permits the minority party to concentrate its votes on one candidate
and, thus, to assure representation for the weaker party in almost all districts.
Minority representation has been provided, but the system has not been
without its critics. Among the dissatisfactions are: (1) the lack of a working
majority for the party victorious in the previous election; (2) an opposition in
control of the lower house with a governor of the other party; and (3) too much,
or too little, minority representation. In order to evaluate these objections the
author compares the Illinois record under cumulative voting with some sur-
rounding states (Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan) with more standard
electoral systems. Critics may object to the limited sample of other states and
more particularly to only a few select elections, but for a study of this type the
samples seem adequate. In brief, compared with her sister states that employ
more standard electoral systems, the author finds Illinois has had working major-
ities comparable to the other states, the cleavage between governor and the
lower house has not been more extreme, party representation more nearly...