3.1 different electoral systems

Question 1

what are the functions of electoral systems?

Answer 1

-elections are used to choose representatives. in democracy, legislators and decision makers have to be elected
-elections are the most important ways in which citizens become involved in politics. For many it is their only form of political participation
-elections are a time when government and elected representatives can be called to account. During an election campaign the candidates must justify what they and their party have done
-democracy demands that the people have choice over who represents their ideas and interests. Elections should provide that choice
-elections have an educative function. During election campaigns the public can become better informed about the key political issues that face their locality, region or nation
-elections provide a mandate. The winners in an election are granted democratic legitimacy, the political authority to carry out the political programme that they are proposing

Question 2

what are the democratic aspects of Uk elections?

Answer 2

• there is freedom of information and of the media
• the secrecy of the ballot is a key principle of Uk elections, though it is not guaranteed
• there is relatively little corruption and malpractice is punishable by law
• the conduct of elections is safeguarded by the Electoral Commission which is independent of government
• the constituency system ensures clear representation for citizens
• the counting of votes is carefully and thoroughly regulated
• elections are held on a regular basis by law
• any citizen can register to stand to be an MP. A required deposit of £500 means many can afford to stand
• virtually all adults are permitted to vote

Question 3

what makes a good election system?

Answer 3

• in Dec 1997 Blair asked the former Home Secretary Roy Jenkins to investigate possible changes to the electoral system used for UK general elections
  The criteria:
• proportionality
• stable government
• voter choice
• MP/constituent link
• participation
• simplicity

Question 4

what is a plurality electoral system?

Answer 4

to win a seat, a candidate only requires one more vote than any other candidate, meaning they do not need to secure an absolute majority

Question 5

what type of electoral system is plurality?

Answer 5

FPTP

Question 6

where is FPTP used?

Answer 6

• General elections
• Local council elections in England and Wales

Question 7

what is a majoritarian electoral system?

Answer 7

used to select a single candidate, these systems are designed to attempt to secure an absolute majority for the winning candidate

Question 8

what type of electoral system is majoritarian?

Answer 8

SV

Question 9

where is SV used?

Answer 9

• London mayor
• By elections for STV
• other metro mayors

Question 10

what is a proportional electoral system?

Answer 10

a system that attempts to allocate seats in direct proportion to votes cast. As such they are multi-member constituencies

Question 11

what type of electoral system is proportional?

Answer 11

STV

Question 12

where is STV used?

Answer 12

• Northern Ireland parliament
• Scottish local government

Question 13

what is a hybrid electoral system?

Answer 13

a system that mixes two other types of system, such as plurality and proportional

Question 14

what type of electoral system is hybrid?

Answer 14

AMS

Question 15

where is AMS used?

Answer 15

• Scottish parliament
• welsh send
• greater London assembly

Question 16

what is FPTP?

Answer 16

FPTP is a straightforward electoral system where voters simply pick a single candidate to represent their constituency. The votes are counted and whoever gains the most votes wins the seta, regardless of the total number of votes cast or the relative proportion

Question 17

what are the key features of FPTP?

Answer 17

• small, single member constituencies
• winner takes all based on a plurality
• voting is simple, place an X nest to your chose candidate
• voters get one vote for one candidate
• voters choose a candidate, not a party

Question 18

how does FPTP work?

Answer 18

FPTP operates by dividing the country into 650 constituencies of roughly equal size, the average adult population of a constituency is 75,000. Tightly populated London constituencies are much smaller in size than sparsely populated constituencies in rural areas

Question 19

evidence of an absolute majority in the 2019 election vs a plurality?

Answer 19

• in Arundel and South Downs in 2019, Conservatives won 35,566 votes which was 57.9% of the total votes making it an absolute majority
• in Lanark and Hamilton East in 2019, the SNP won 22,243 votes which was only 41.9% of the total votes

Question 20

advantages of FPTP?

Answer 20

• it is a simple system and voters can understand exactly what they are voting for
• it helps to ensure representatives are closely bound to the needs and concerns of their constituency
• it helps to ensure small extremist parties find it difficult to gain representation
• it tends to produce an outright winner, that is, a party that has an overall majority in the HOC and therefore produces a clear mandate
• it is traditional, having been sued as the main voting system throughout British electoral history, and is part of British political tradition

Question 21

disadvantages of FPTP?

Answer 21

• it gives an advantage to parties that have concentrated support in certain regions
• it is disadvantageous to parties whose support is dispersed widely
• it favours the large parties and prevents serious challenges from small parties
• there is a ‘winners bonus’, where the biggest party tends to win more than its proportionate share of the vote. in 2019 the conservatives won 43% of the votes, which was converted into 56% of the seats
• in some recent general elections (2010, 2015 and 2017), the system failed to produce a decisive government majority

Question 22

key issues relating to FPTP: example of concentrated support?

Answer 22

• conservatives got 43.6% of the vote in 2019 but got 56.2% of seats=365 seats
• labour won 32.2% of the vote and got 31.2% of seats= 203
• however Lib Dems got 11.5% of the vote, but 1.7% of the sears
• it took Green Party 866,400 votes to win a seat, while SNP only needed 25,900

Question 23

key issues relating to FPTP: explain concentrated support?

Answer 23

• the FPTP electoral system has the effect os favouring those parties that have their support concentrated in certain areas
• the reason why this occurs is that parties with dispersed support e.g green find it very difficult to secure a high enough total to win an individual constituency contest and hence gain few seats in parliament

Question 24

key issues relating to FPTP: example of safe seats?

Answer 24

• the electoral reform society estimated that 316 seats out of 650 were safe seats in 2019
• the ERS estimated that in the 2019 general election 70.8% of the votes (22.6 mil) were effectively casting ‘wasted votes’ because they had no role in influencing the outcome in their constituency

Question 25

key issues relating to FPTP: explain safe seats?

Answer 25

• a safe seat is a constituency where it is almost certain that the same party will win the seat at every general election
• it is largely immune to swings in voting choice
• it means that votes are not equal in value
• MPs in safe seats are less accountable
• less money is spent campaigning there

Question 26

what may marginal seats lead to?

Answer 26

tactile voting

Question 27

key issues relating to FPTP: example of marginal seats?

Answer 27

in the 2019 elections, there were 141 marginal seats, defined as one where the last winning candidate led by 10% or less from the nearest challenger

Question 28

key issues relating to FPTP: explain marginal seats?

Answer 28

• marginal seats are those where the outcome of an election is in doubt. such seats are likely to change hands from one party to another quite frequently
• parties concentrate their efforts on marginal seats
• votes in marginal seats are more valuable

Question 29

what is the additional member system?

Answer 29

isa hybrid system that combines FPTP with a proportional representation system, in this case on called ‘closed party list’

Question 30

how does AMS work?

Answer 30

a proportion of the seats is awarded through FPTP. The rest are awarded by a regional closed party list

Question 31

where is AMS used?

Answer 31

in the Scottish and welsh parliament and in the Greater London assembly

Question 32

how is AMS a compromise?

Answer 32

it is designed to make a party system proportional, but preserves the idea of parliamentary constituencies with an MP to represent them. it helps smaller parties, but also favours the large ones

Question 33

how does AMS work in Scotland and Wales?

Answer 33

• a proportion of the seats are elected through FPTP
• the remainder of seats are elected on a proportional system based on several regions of the country. This is known as the regional closed party list part of the system
• the variable top-up system adjusts the proportion of votes cast on the list system, based on the over or under representation parties have experienced in the FPTP seats. The seats awarded from the list system are adjusted ti give more proportional results
• parties that do less well in the constituencies have their proportion of list votes adjusted upwards
• makes the total result in seats close to proportional to the total votes cast in both systems

Question 34

pros of AMS?

Answer 34

• produces broadly proportional outcome and fair to all
• gives voters two votes which equals more choice
• combines preserving constituency representation with a proportional outcome
• helps small parties that cannot win constituency contests

Question 35

cons of AMS?

Answer 35

• produces two classes of representation, those with a constituencies and those elected through the lists
• more complex, may confuse voters
• can result in extremist parties

Question 36

what does the outcome of elections look like that use AMS? (example being the 2016 elections to the Scottish parliament)

Answer 36

the proportion of seats won by each party is quite close to the proportion of votes each of them won in the party list contest, so the result is broadly representational. Also larger parties do not have as much dominating power, the SNP won 48.8% of the seats and 41.7% of the votes meaning they got 59 of the 73 constituency seats available. had the system been done under FPTP, the SNP would have dominated by winning 104 out of 129 seats available. similarly the Lib Dems won 3.9% of the seats with 5.2% of the votes

Question 37

Where is the supplementary vote used?

Answer 37

in the uk its main use is to elect city mayors

Question 38

How does SV work?

Answer 38

• voters have 2 choices, a first and a second. If any candidate achieves an overall majority (e.g 50%) of the first choice round, they are automatically elected. If this does not happen, the top 2 candidates go into a second round of counting (and others drop out)
• the second choice votes of the eliminated candidates are added to the first choices for the top 2 candidates

Question 39

what does this SV system ensure?

Answer 39

• as there are only 2 candidates left, one of them is certain to achieve and absolute majority. So the winner has an overall majority of a combination of first and second choice votes
• in the 2016 London mayor election , Sadiq Khan, the eventual winner, achieved only 44.2% of the first choice votes, but 101,427 voters put whims there second choice which was enough to give him absolute majority with 56.8%

Question 40

what are the advantages of SV?

Answer 40

• winning candidate must have overall majority
• it is relatively simple for voters to understand
• voters have great opportunity to express their support for mote than one party

Question 41

what are the disadvantages of SV?

Answer 41

• the winning candidate may be chosen as a second choice candidate
• it will probably entrench and promote the two party system
• third parties will be more excluded from winning seats than under FPTP

Question 42

do you think the SV would make a substantial difference to the current composition of the HOC?

Answer 42

yes, it will make a difference because votes will feel less wasted if the candidate has to get a majority rather than just 1 more so people may vote for 3rd parties more however it will not make a substantial difference because it will promote the 2 party system so ultimately will not lead to a substantial difference

Question 43

where is the single transferable vote used?

Answer 43

in Northern Ireland

Question 44

how does the STV work?

Answer 44

• there are typically six seats available in each constituency
• each party is permitted to put up as many candidates as there are east (e.g up to 6), however the normal is 4 because they are likely not to win all 6
• voters place the candidates in their oder of preference by placing a number, 1,2,3 etc. beside their names. They can Gove a preference for all possible candidates or only those candidates they support
• voters can vote for candidates from different parties or even all the parties, though few do
• as the count, an electoral quota is calculated. This is established by taking the total number of votes cast and dividing it by the number of seats available plus 1. so if 50,000 votes were cast and six seats are available the quota is 50,000/(6+1=7)
• initially, all the first preferences are counted for each candidate, any candidate who achieves the quota are elected automatically
• after this, essentially the candidate that came last is eliminated and the second and subsequent preferences from their ballot papers are added to the other candidates. if this results in an individual achieving the quota, they are elected
• this process continues until six candidates have achieved the quota and are elected

Question 45

why is STV used?

Answer 45

it is designed to ensure voter’s preferences are aggregated to make sure that 6 most popular candidates overall are elected

Question 46

example of STV?

Answer 46

in a single constituency contest from the NI assembly election in 2016 illustrated how this works for the Fermanagh and south Tyrone constituency. with the DUP, 2 candidates were offered and 2 elected but with Sinn Fein 4 were offered and 2 elected. The quota was 6740, only one candidate (Arlene Foster of the DUP) achieve the quota on the first preference votes

Question 47

example of how promotional STV is?

Answer 47

in the results off the NI assembly election, 2017 the DUP won 28 seats and had 28.1% of first preference votes. Sinn Fein won 27 seats and had 27.9% of first preference votes. and the SDLP won 12 seats with 11.9% of first preference votes

Question 48

advantages of STV?

Answer 48

• it produces a broadly proportional outcome
• it gives voters a very wide choice of candidates
• voters can vote for candidates from different parties and show a preference between candidates of the same party
• it helps small parties and independent candidates to be elected

Question 49

disadvantages of STV?

Answer 49

• it Is quite a complex system that some voters do not understand
• the vote counting is complicated and can take a long time
• it can help candidates with extremist views be elected

Question 50

compare the vote systems in terms of ‘a clear winning candidate’

Answer 50

• FPTP produces a clear winning candidate
• STV produces a weaker winning candidate due to multi-member constituencies
• AMS has a clear winning candidate but also top-up candidates
• SV same as AMS but maybe stronger as it will secure a majority of final votes

Question 51

compare the vote systems in terms of ‘secures a clear winning party and mandate’

Answer 51

• FPTP usually secures a clear winning party and mandate
• STV much less likely to achieve this and more likely to rely on coalitions
• AMS much less likely to secure single-party government
• SV is more likely to achieve this as to promotes the two main parties

Question 52

compare the vote systems in terms of ‘it is easy to understand’

Answer 52

• FPTP is very easy to understand
• STV is much more complicated and time consuming but has worked where used
• AMS is a mixture of 2 systems operating on different principles making it slightly more complicated but has worked where used
• SV is slightly more complicated but has worked where used

Question 53

compare the vote systems in terms of ‘stopping extremist parties and small parties’

Answer 53

• FPTP stops extremist parties and other small parties winning seats
• STV is much more likely that smaller or extremist parties will gain some form of representation
• AMS is more likely that smaller parties will gain some form of representation but limited
• SV would usually make it harder for smaller parties and more extremist parties to gain a seat

Question 54

compare the vote systems in terms of ‘lack of proportionality’

Answer 54

• FPTP produces a lack of proportionality
• STV produces far more proportional representation of parties
• with AMS the worst aspects of proportionality are tempered by the top-up seats, though not eliminated
  -SV is possibly even less proportional than FPTP

Question 55

compare the vote systems in terms of ‘strong constituency links’

Answer 55

• FPTP has strong constituency links
• STV creates much weaker constituency links
• AMS has strong constituency links for the FPTP part, but weaker for the top up seats
• SV exactly the same as AMS