pbThis book fills a gap in constitutional law by investigating the global trend towards substantive constitutional adjudication of electoral legislation. bOn which premises is this judicial scrutiny grounded, what can explain the trend and with which consequences for representative democracy pSo far, scholars have focused their attention on a few countries and on selected judgments, such as the US Supreme Court's landmark decision in Citizens United v. FEC. This book offers instead a comparative reading of the issue by analysing how the circulation of models and arguments between judges has triggered the progressive overcoming of a traditionally deferent approach towards electoral norms, which still survives in a few jurisdictions. pThe book explores the democratic underpinning of electoral systems and their evolution. It explores the methodological choices constitutional judges are confronted with when managing electoral legislation. This prepares the ground for the in-depth review of