3 Electoral Systems Flashcards
What voting system does the majoritarian system fall under?
Supplementary Vote
What voting system does the plurality system fall under?
First-past-the-post
What voting system does the proportional system fall under?
Additional Member System (AMS)
Single Transferrable Vote (STV)
How does the majoritarian system work?
FPTP A majority of >50% is required to win.
May refer to the number of votes to win a seat, or the number of seats to win a government.
Likely produces a two-party system.
Why do some GE’s occur more often than the given time?
If 2/3 of the MP’s vote for a GE.
What is the disconnect between the current electoral system and voter behaviour?
Most people vote on their party preference rather than the local MP. You are actually supposed to vote for a local MP rather than the overall party.
How many seats do you have to win to form a majority government?
326 / 650.
What happens if no party has a majority?
Two or more parties may choose to work together and form a coalition, or the party may choose to form a minority government.
What is the problem with FPTP in some constituencies?
A winner takes all nature means that a person can win the seat with far less than 50% of the vote, provided the other parties get less than them.
What is an example of the FPTP problem?
Alasdair McDonnell achieved just 24.5% of the popular vote, yet still won his seat. He represents less than a quarter of the people in his constituency at Westminster.
Why have the elections from 2010, 2015 and 2017 been interesting?
In 2010, 2015 and 2017, they have all not had a major one-party dominance.
What are the traditional advantages of FPTP?
Simplicity
Strong government
MP-constituency link
Centrist policies
What are the traditional disadvantages of FPTP?
Lack of voter choice
Unequal vote value
No majority needed
Disproportionate result
Why is the lack of voter choice a disadvantage of FPTP?
The ‘winner-takes-all’ nature means that the only real choice for many voters is between Labour and Conservatives.
Websites such as Vote Swap have become more popular as voters could pledge to swap their votes with others in the country depending on how safe their constituency was.
Why is an unequal vote value a disadvantage of FPTP?
If a person lives in a safe seat, their vote is far less valuable than that of a person in a swing seat.
Why is a disproportionate result a disadvantage of FPTP?
As explained earlier, the disproportionate result leads to the over-representation of the larger parties, and under-representation of the smaller parties.
This reduces voter choice, but also creates artificial majorities that may not reflect the political beliefs of the nation.
What have the developments been within the argument of FPTP system reform?
Increasing number of Safe Seats
Disproportionate results
Failure to deliver strong single-party government
Why has the increasing number of safe seats been an argument for FPTP system reform?
In 2015, 21 seats were won by more than 50%.
In 2017, 35 seats were won by more than 50%.
This demonstrates the increasing inequality of the value of a vote in the UK.
Where is the AMS implemented?
The Scottish Parliament.
Welsh Assembly.
How does the AMS work?
Each voter is given two votes.
One for their local representative, one for their regional representative.
What is the formula for AMS in Scotland and Wales known as?
d’Hondt Formula.
What are the advantages of the AMS system?
Proportional Result
Split-ticket Voting
Government with broad popularity
Greater Representation
Why is split-ticket voting a benefit of the AMS?
Voters have more choices with two votes to cast, which can be independent of one another.
This encourages more parties to run, particularly within the regional ballot.
Why is a government with broad popularity a benefit of AMS?
Due to the second stage of AMS, a party must have broad popularity across a whole country, not just in concentrated pockets.
Governments become more legitimate, particularly if they are within a coalition.
What are the negatives of AMS?
More complicated
Single-party governments become very unlikely
The first round
Different types of representatives
Party Control
Why is an unlikely single-party government a negative of the AMS?
The proportional nature of AMS means single-party governments are notoriously difficult to achieve, making coalitions more likely. This makes governments weaker and more unable to pass policies.
Why is the first round a negative of the AMS?
The first round is a constituency vote, which is conducted by FPTP. This carries the same negatives that the FPTP does.
Why is party control a negative of the AMS?
Within the regional vote, a party decides on the order of its list. Voters have to decide to support the entire list, or none of it. This may be due to one party candidate being a deal-breaker.
What are the overall effects of the AMS?
A multiparty system - likely leading to coalition
Safe seats and swing seats from the FPTP side
What is ordinal voting? stv
A vote cast in which the voter ranks candidates in order of preference, ranking as few, or as many as they wish.
Where is the STV used in the UK?
Northern Irish Assembly.
What does the STV do in terms of vote representation?
There is a closer correlation between voter percentage, and seats elected.
What are the effects of STV?
A multiparty system.
Coalition governments.
The likelihood of safe seats is low.
Value of each vote is more uniform.
What are the advantages of STV?
Proportional Result
Voter Choice
Greater Representation
What are the disadvantages of STV?
More complicated.
Unlikely single-party government.
Lack of Constituency Link
Why is an unlikely single-party government a negative of STV?
The proportional nature means that most governments will need to be coalitions. These are often weaker than single-party governments.
Why is a lack of a constituency link a negative of STV?
With no local representatives, the link between an elected representative and their area is weaker.
Why do Londoners now have an elected mayor?
A referendum in 1998.
How often are mayorial elections for London?
Once every 4 years.
What are the effects of SV?
Likely a two-party system. (possibly more so than FPTP)
What are the advantages of the SV?
Majority result
Voter choice
Simple system
Why is a majority result a benefit of the SV?
Increases the legitimacy, while still ensuring extremist parties are kept out of influence.
Why is voter choice a benefit of the SV?
Voters can vote for a smaller party with their first choice, but using their second choice on a larger party to ensure their vote is not wasterd.
What are the disadvantages of the SV?
Two party dominance.
A false majority.
Wasted votes.
Why is a two-party dominance a negative of the SV?
The elimination of all but two candidates in one go means that third parties are unlikely to do well, making the result less proportional.
This may encourage tactical voting with the second choice.
Why is a false majority a negative of the SV?
As there are two rounds of voting, the voters may not actually have wanted the winner in office, but as they had enough second choice votes, they take office.
What is the Jenkin’s Commission?
Labour set up this commission (while in power) to look into possible FPTP replacements.
Should FPTP be replaced for UK General Elections?
(Yes)
FPTP is no longer producing a strong single-party government as promised.
The lack of proportionality does not fit with the principles of representative democracy.
The government could be argued to lack legitimacy due to a minority of voters actually voting for them.
‘One person, one vote’ is not actually applicable as inequality in voter value exists due to FPTP.
Many votes are wasted leading to tactical voting.
The two-party system undermines liberal and pluralist democratic principles.
Should FPTP be replaced for UK General Elections?
(No)
The FPTP system is widely understood by the public, so an educated public is more likely to vote increasing the legitimacy of the government.
Governments tend to be strong and stable.
Smaller parties can still do well.
Popular parties gaining votes but not seats still have their policies adopted by the larger parties.
There is a clear choice in a two-party system.
Proportional systems weaken the link between geographical areas and the people that represent them.
where is additional member system used
scotland, wales, greater london assembly.
how does the additional member system work
voters are given two votes: for constituency and for regional MP (party appoints not member)
AMS +2
+more choice, voters have more choice when they choose a local representative and allows more flexibility in choosing parties
+fairer to all parties & more proportional eg under FPTP in 1997 the Conservative party won 0 seats in scotland and in 1999 under AMS they won 18
AMS -3
-2 types of membership, inequality between especially in Scotland
-closed list system is used, party leadership ranks candidates. this is undemocratic as nobody has voted for the member
-more difficult to understand.
where is the single transferrable vote used
in the northern irish assembly
what type of system is STV
pluralist
how does STV work
voters rank 5 candidates and the candidates need to meet a threshold and the remaining votes are redistributed.
STV +4
+close correlation between votes and seats
+smaller parties can grow
+voters have a lot more choice - 5 instead of 1
+ creates coalition governments which enable representation of 2+ communities which was essential in ending 30 years of NI violence
STV -4
-in large, multi-member constituencies, MP-constituency link may be weakened
-coalition creation can cause chaos => presumes the two parties can cooperate. 2022 Stormont was placed on a 24 month hiatus during unsuccessful post-brexit negotiations and was left to be run by civil servants
-reduced legitimacy of MPs as there is a 1st winner and a 5th winner - clear disparity in support.
-hard to understand and complex
evidence that STV doesnt enhance democracy
in 2022 the power-sharing govt (stormont) collapsed after post-brexit negotiations. the DUP blocked the assembly so it ceased to operate for 24 months. this left unelected civil servants to run NI which hasn’t enhanced democracy.
results of STV in 2022
Sinn Fein 29%
DUP 21.3%
Alliance Party 13.5%
where is Supplimentary Vote used
london mayor elections and police & crime commissioner elections
what is supplimentary vote
each voter is allowed a 1st and 2nd preference and any candidate who gains more than 50% of the 1st preference is automatically elected. if this doesnt happen all candidates but the top 2 are eliminated and 2nd preference votes for these two are counted
SV +3
+ensures broad support for the winner. Labour Sadiq Khan elected mayor in 2016 had the largest personal mandate: 44% of 1st and 66% of 2nd
+allows independent candidates to win -> 12 out of 40 police and crime commissioners in 2012 were independent
+relatively simple
SV -2
-not proportional as one individual is allowed into power VS STV where 5 are allowed in
-winner doesnt need an absolute majority. = less legitimacy
2021 SV results
Labour Sadiq Khan 55% Conservative Shaun Bailey 44%
AMS 2021 scotland elections results
SNP won 64 seats, cons 31, green 8, labour 22, lib dems 4
strengths of FPTP
- majority govt (clear mandate, stable (2022 Ireland), more efficient as less resistance, more consistent)
- tough decisions can be made as there is more leadership strength and clarity EG covid lockdowns
- avoids coalition govt (instability, internal conflicts, compromises can water down policies, slower decisions, gridlock)
- single member constituencies encourage a good relationship (more accountability, and more effective)
- clear how system works so its up to the party to exploit for gain
- easy to understand = clarity and reduced complexities when tallying and assigning seats.
weaknesses of FPTP
- majority govt - (limited opposition and diversity of opinion)
- unfair - 1983 stat, winner takes all, leads to tactical voting = undemocratic, minority can rule
3.the MP constituency relationship is a myth, they do not truly represent the constituents (number of Conservative MPs from private schools is 53% compared to 6% who go nationally) - minor parties are disadvantaged - UKIP 2015 got 3 mil votes but only 1 seat)
- reinforced division in the UK as it exaggerates regional political differences. a party can concentrate efforts and win many seats within. eg scotland elections 2021 SNP won 62/73 seats.
stat from 1983 on why FPTP is unfair
1983 - Labour 27.6% = 209 seats, Lib Dems 35.4% = 23 seats
UKIP stat on minor parties being disadvantaged
2015 UKIP 3 million votes but 1 seat.
SNP 2021 stat
2021 - won 62/73 seats.
