Election

• Date: 13th century

Definitions

• 1 a : an act or process of electing <the election of a new governor>

b : the fact of being elected <her election to the Senate>

• 2 : predestination to eternal life
• 3 : the right, power, or privilege of making a choice

For lessons on the related topic of Suffrage, follow this link.

Description

An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the [legislature, sometimes in the executive and [judiciary, and for regional and local government. This process is also used in many other private and business organizations, from clubs to voluntary associations and corporations.

The universal use of elections as a tool for selecting representatives in modern democracies is in contrast with the practice in the democratic archetype, ancient Athens. Elections were considered an oligarchic institution and most political offices were filled using sortition, also known as allotment, by which officeholders were chosen by lot.

Electoral reform describes the process of introducing fair electoral systems where they are not in place, or improving the fairness or effectiveness of existing systems. Psephology is the study of results and other statistics relating to elections (especially with a view to predicting future results).

To elect means "to choose or make a decision", and so sometimes other forms of ballot such as the referendum are referred to as elections, especially in the United States.[1]