3. Electoral Systems Flashcards
What is First Past the Post (FPTP)?
- An electoral system, sometimes known as a plurality system
- candidate with the largest number of votes is elected
- Victory is achieved by having at least one more vote than other contenders
What are the criteria for Voting Systems?
- A fair result that gives votes equal value
- A choice of candidates
- Link between representatives and the constituency
- Strong government that can pass laws
- Government can be held to account by the electorate
Advantages of FPTP
- Quick and simple
- Provides a strong and stable government (two party system)
- Exclusion of extremists
- Promotes a strong link between MPs and constituencies
Disadvantages of FPTP
- MPs and government don’t need majority
- Labour won house majority in 2024 with 33.7% of popular vote
- Reform got 14.3% but only 5 seats
- Lack of proportionality
- Limited voter choice
- Safe seats leads to unequal votes
What are marginal seats?
- Seats held by a small majority
- Small swing to an opposition candidate can cause the seat to change hands
- E.g. Watford
What are safe seats?
- Constituencies in which the sitting MP has a secure majority
- E.g. Newcastle North
What are electoral deserts?
- Areas of the country where a party cannot win seats
- E.g. South-East England is a desert for Labour
What is Additional Member System (AMS)?
- A hybrid electoral system
- The voter makes two choices
- First, the voter selects a representative by FPTP
- A second vote is made for a party
- Additional members would be elected by these votes
- Additional members don’t have a constituency
What is Single Transferable Vote (STV)?
- An electoral system where preferences are ranked numerically
- In order to win a seat, a candidate must obtain a quota (number of votes)
- After the votes are cast, if a candidate meets the quota, their excess votes are transferred to other candidates based on second preference
- The candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated and votes redistributed based on next preference
- Repeated until all seats are filled
What is Supplementary Vote (SV)?
- A majoritarian electoral system where voters rank first and second choice
- If one candidate obtains more than 50% on the first vote, then they are elected
- Otherwise, the top two candidates remain and supplementary votes are added
- Then, the candidate with the most votes wins
Where is AMS used?
- Scottish Parliament
- Welsh Assembly
- Greater London Assembly
Advantages of AMS
- Introduces a proportional element
- Corrects flaws of FPTP
- FPTP element maintains a string link between the member and the constituency
- Electors have wider choice than under FPTP
Disadvantages of AMS
- Creates two different types of member, some with constituency responsibilities and some without
- Smaller parties achieve less representation than under a fully proportional system
- Closed list system means there isn’t choice of member
Where is STV used?
- Northern Ireland Assembly
- European Parliament Elections
- Northern Ireland and Scottish Council Elections
Advantages of STV
- Close correlation between votes and seats
- Voter choice is high
- Northern Ireland shows a power-sharing government between rivals
Disadvantages of STV
- Not fully proportional
- Large multi-member constituencies leads to weak constituency/member link
- Power sharing governments are still prone to conflict
Where is Supplementary Vote (SV) used?
- Elections for the London Mayor
Advantages of SV
- Ensures broad support for the winner
- Simple and straight forward to use
- Has allowed some independent candidates to win
Disadvantages of SV
- Not proportional as only one winner
- The winner does not need to get an absolute majority of the votes
- Voters need to be able to guess top two to influence the outcome
When do we use a referendum?
- Legitimising a major government initiative
- Getting a government out of a difficult situation
- Result of a deal between political parties
- Response to pressure to hold a referendum
What was the result of referendum on establishment of a Scottish Parliament?
Sept 1997 - 74.3% Yes
What was the result of referendum on establishment of a Welsh Assembly?
Sept 1997 - 50.3% Yes
What was the result of referendum on London Mayor and Assembly?
May 1998 - 72% Yes
What was the result of referendum on change to AV for the Westminster Electoral System result?
May 2011 - 67.9% No
What was the result of referendum on Scottish Independence?
Sept 2014 - 55.3% No
What was the Brexit referendum result?
June 2016 - 51.9% Leave
Advantages of Referendums
- Allows direct influence
- Encourages people to find out more about major political issues
- Can help to settle an issue
Disadvantages of Referendums
- Elected politicians are supposed to make the decisions on behalf of less informed voters
- Politicians are paid to do this
- Campaigns with more money can influence voters more
