Political dynasties and personal political machines

This thesis proposes an electoral system-based explanation for the observable variations in the rate of family following in the parliaments of mature, developed, democratic states. Electoral systems that foster intra-party competition for votes from the general public are held to incentivise the creation of personal political machines. Such machines are heritable and it is this inheritance that conveys significant advantages to the relatives of former MPs who follow them into elected office. A theory of dynasty formation and a new ranking of electoral systems according to the degree to which they incentivise the creation and maintenance of personal political machines are developed. These are tested against recent elections in seven countries and against the last eleven elections in Ireland. The results support the thesis and lead to a series of recommendations for electoral system reform.