Tamaño del distrito y voto estratégico en España

Abstract

This paper analyses the psychological effects of the electoral system, paying attention to the
influence that the size or magnitude of the electoral district has on the strategic use of the vote in the
Spanish Congreso de los Diputados elections. In order to measure the incidence of the strategic vote
on the behaviour of Spanish voters between 1982 and 2000, the various approaches proposed for
studying this phenomenon are applied. The results make it possible to confirm that the institutional
variable forming the electoral system – the size or dimension of the district, in other words the
difference between large and small districts – has an influence on the behaviour of voters.