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Electoral Systems

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However, candidates are grouped into a single ballot to be ranked in order by voters. ... Does PR, despite its apparent democratic nature, damage democracy? ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Electoral Systems


1
Electoral Systems
  • Plurality/Majority System vs. Proportional
    Representation

2
Classification of Electoral Systems 1
  • Plurality
  • Classified separate from Majority by Blais and
    Massicotte in Comparing Democracies 2.

3
Classification of Electoral Systems 2
  • Majority Systems

4
Classification of Electoral Systems 3
  • Mixed Systems

5
Classification of Electoral Systems 4
  • Proportional Representation

6
Classification of Electoral Systems 5
  • Pippa Norris in Electoral Engineering

7
Classifications of Electoral Systems 6
  • Can Plurality and Majority systems be considered
    similar enough to group them together as one? Or
    should they remain separate as in the first
    example?
  • Which classification is the most effective, the
    prior, considering districts, or the latter just
    considering the types of electoral system?

8
Plurality System
  • After votes have been cast, the party/individual
    with the most are declared the winners.
  • First Past the Post (FPTP)-outperforms all other
    options in terms of its pristine simplicity.
    FPTP is very simple and is applied in single
    member districts and is largely candidate centred
    voting.
  • Primarily found in the UK and countries that have
    been historically linked with Great Britain.
  • It is the most votes that wins an election not
    the majority of the votes. E.g. The Labour Party
    of the UK won only 35.3 of the vote in 2005,
    with a majority of over 150 seats, while the
    Conservatives managed 32.3 of the vote.

9
Majority System
  • Not quite as simple as FPTP
  • There is the possibility of having no winner at
    all in this supposed winner takes all system in
    single-round voting.
  • Therefore, runoffs are introduced where the two
    strongest parties/individuals will go against
    each-other in a second round of voting (Seen in
    the US).
  • This system is utilized by 19 out of 32 countries
    with a direct presidential elections.
  • Alternative voting is less costly as voters rank
    candidates on preference and said candidates win
    if they have a majority in the preferences.

10
Proportional Representation
  • PR is literally translation of votes into a
    corresponding proportion of seats in the
    legislature.
  • By definition, PR can only be used in multimember
    districts.
  • District magnitude has a significant bearing on
    the result i.e. More representatives elected mean
    the system is more proportional.

11
PR List System
  • Lists may be open or closed, in a closed list
    voters may only select the party they wish to
    vote for, whereas, in an open list voters can
    express preferences for particular candidates.
  • The rank order of candidates on the party list
    determines who is elected to parliament.

12
PR Single Transferable Vote
  • Provides voters with more freedom than party
    lists.
  • Members are elected in multi-member districts.
  • However, candidates are grouped into a single
    ballot to be ranked in order by voters.
  • There is no obligation for voters to express
    preferences for the candidates of a single party,
    which provides more choice.
  • Only first preference votes are considered for
    election and once the quota for the candidate has
    been filled, their excess votes are then
    transferred to remaining candidates based on the
    preference list.

13
Advantages of FPTP
  • Its simplicity and tendency to produce winners
    that are representatives obliged to defined
    geographic areas.
  • It is a very simple ballot count.
  • It provides two clear cut choices for the voter.
  • Single Party governments mean that cabinets are
    not usually restrained by weaker coalition
    minority party.
  • FPTP gives rise to respectable opposition to
    legislature to act as a critical checking role
    and presents itself as an alternative.

14
Advantages of FPTP cont
  • Single Party governments mean that political
    parties have to be broad in their appeal.
  • Excludes anti-systemic or extremist parties from
    representation in the legislature because of
    geographical spread of voters.
  • Promotes a link between constituents and their
    representatives in parliament as cities, towns
    and councils have their own parliamentary
    representatives.

15
Disadvantages of FPTP
  • Excludes parties and minorities from fair
    representation-could it be that it is democracy
    failing?
  • Can exclude women. Evidence suggests that women
    are less likely to be elected to the legislature
    under plurality/majority systems than under PR
    ones.
  • Can encourage the development of political
    parties based on clan, ethnicity or region.
  • There are a large number of wasted votes which do
    not go towards the elected party.

16
Disadvantages of FPTP cont
  • Vote splitting can occur. Two similar parties or
    candidates in policy can gain a split of the same
    ideological votes thus allowing a less popular
    party through.
  • Would a less popular party be the minority and
    thus in extreme cases, would that minority being
    represented? Is this a good or bad thing?
  • FPTP can be insensitive to swings in public
    opinion.
  • It is dependant on drawing constituency
    boundaries and thus gerrymandering can occur.
  • There is a winning/seat bonus with FPTP which
    can be a disproportionate votes to seats ratio.

17
Advantages of PR
  • Translating of votes to seats can avoid the
    unfair results that can arise in FPTP systems.
  • Avoids the winning bonus as votes are directly
    translated into seats.
  • It encourages or requires parties to formulate
    policy lists which can be voted upon thus
    clarifying ideology and policy.
  • PR does not allow votes to be wasted so is it
    democracy in a purer form than FPTP?

18
Advantages of PR cont
  • Low thresholds mean that almost every vote is
    counted and will be represented.
  • PR can facilitate minority parties access to
    representation thus more democratic.
  • Encourages parties to campaign beyond their
    districts as every vote counts.
  • It can provide a stability to Policy and makes
    power sharing more visible.

19
Disadvantages of PR
  • Gives rise to coalition governments thus
    fragmented executive can cloud policy making and
    provide obstacles.
  • Factional splits can arise which, again, cause
    instability in the legislature.
  • PR can be a platform for extremist parties and
    potentially anti-systemic parties.
  • Governing coalitions will undoubtedly share too
    little common ground to make strong policies.

20
Disadvantages of PR cont
  • PR can give a disproportionate amount of power to
    minority parties.
  • Accountability could be lost with a coalition
    government as voters lose the power to throw a
    party out because of the coalition.
  • It can be difficult for voters and the electoral
    administration to implement complex rules of the
    system.

21
FPTP vs. PR
  • Which electoral system is more effective and
    which provides the best party system?
  • Does PR, despite its apparent democratic nature,
    damage democracy?
  • Is party self interest present in both systems?
    Or can it be avoided?
  • Is PR more unstable than it is stable and can
    FPTP be considered a viable alternative or a more
    stable system?
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