Among the most prized and revered democratic institutions are elections. Few other actions typify what it means to participate in the democratic process in the same way that turning up, casting a ballot, and then having that ballot be part of determining who will control power has. Indeed, elections are at the center of what we view as democracy and much ink has been spilled in attempting to explain just how essential the electoral action is to democracy. In this volume our authors explore elections both from an understanding of the systems that govern elections across both the developed and developing world, and from the perspective of the individual voter who participates in that system. Taken together these analyses provide an intriguing look into this core aspect of democracy.