Fragmented, polarized and personality driven: Israelis are heading to the polls tomorrow

As the election campaign in israel

is winding down, it has once again become apparent how fragmented the party system has become, and that personality driven politics remains the cornerstone of present campaigning; needless to say that this poses challenges for the integrity of the democratic process, such as questions of accountability.

Professor

gideon Rahat

who is a faculty member at the Political Sciences Department of the

hebrew University

in Jerusalem and Director of the Political Reform Program at the

israel Democracy Institute

gives us his take on what led to these trends shaping and, perhaps, undermining the democratic process. In this

conversation

he weighs various remedies which he believes can help restore accountability and renew faith in the political process at large. He also conceptualizes electoral reform as a means by which to enhance political representation.

If you want to explore his arguments in more depth, I highly recommend

this book

which he wrote together with his colleague

ofer Kenig.

Follow election coverage tomorrow night

here.

You find related material on Israel

here.