6) Electoral systems Flashcards
What defines single-member constituencies?
One seat.
Won be the strongest candidate.
Majoritarian system.
What defines multi-member constituencies?
Several seats.
Distributed to parties according to vote share.
High degree of proportional representation.
What are the three different single-member constituencies?
Single-member plurality system.
Alternative vote system.
Two round (majority) system.
What are the three different multi-member constituencies?
List systems.
Mixed systems.
Single-transferable vote.
What defines a single-member plurality system?
The candidate with most votes wins.
What defines an alternative vote system?
The voters rank the candidates.
What defines a two round (majority) system?
The candidates need the absolute majority, but if one does not get this, there is a second round of vote.
What defines a list system?
Voters does not vote for individual candidates, but for a party list made by the party.
What defines a mixed system?
Voters has two votes, one for an individual candidate and one for a party list.
What defines a single-transferable vote system?
A bit like the alternative vote, where voters rank the candidates.
What is the idea of electoral thresholds, and what is the negative effect?
The idea is to prevent small parties from winning seats, but it makes the seat distribution less proportional.
What does Duverger’s law say?
High district magnitude allows for more parties in legislature.
Majoritarian democracy –> two-party system.
Consensus democray and PR –> multiparty system.
What is the pros and cons in a majoritarian democracy?
High effectiveness.
High accountability.
High alternation.
Low representation.
Low extremism.
Low continuity.
What is the pros and cons in a consensus democracy?
High representation.
High extremism.
High continuity.
Low effectiveness.
Low accountability.
Low alternation.
Why did PR become common in Europe?
Because of the socialist threat, the PR was the best solution against the dominance of the working class.
