The country by country reviews show that there are already in existence interesting electoral rules that have affirmative action goals, in the broader meaning of the concept accepted here. These are of course not the only rules of electoral law allowing for a representation of minorities (see appendix). In most of the countries such rules are introduced as isolated elements while in a few of the countries they are introduced in a more systematic way. In the first case, the affirmative action electoral rules are introduced directly in the law. In the second case such rules are deducted from the more general constitutional provisions. The second pattern is more common among the newly democratised countries.