Electoral Systems

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Electoral Systems

• Plurality/Majority System vs. Proportional
  Representation

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Classification of Electoral Systems 1

• Plurality
• Classified separate from Majority by Blais and
  Massicotte in Comparing Democracies 2.

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Classification of Electoral Systems 2

• Majority Systems

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Classification of Electoral Systems 3

• Mixed Systems

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Classification of Electoral Systems 4

• Proportional Representation

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Classification of Electoral Systems 5

• Pippa Norris in Electoral Engineering

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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?