Given the account set out in the first part of this paper of the incredible diversity of electoral systems available, it is difficult not to succumb to a degree of scepticism or at least admit to the fact that relativism is inevitable. The only obvious thing emerging from this survey is that there is no evidence leading one to make an absolute choice in favour of any particular electoral system. Or, more precisely, no electoral system can be the best or the worst, or perhaps even intrinsically good or bad. In order to assess its quality, it is necessary to know precisely what is expected of it – what is first expected of it – by assessing the way in which it fulfils its different, sometimes conflicting functions, namely those of the electoral system in the context of the democratic political system. We have used this functional approach in order to illuminate the criteria in choosing an electoral system and the implications of that choice. We will then examine in succession the three major functions of an electoral system, the three major models which have been successively applied in order to fulfil those functions in Western democracies, the advantages and drawbacks of hybrid systems and a number of problems specific to the emerging democracies.