additional member system Flashcards
what kind of system is ams?
hybrid - fptp and PR - proportional and plurality
how does ams work?
-Voters have 2 ballot papers - one is list of candidates(like FPTP) and second one is list of parties (a vote to make more of their list of candidates into MPs) - in the UK this is a closed list
-Voters don’t have to choose same party as constituents
-List of candidates is previously published by the party - top few get in to parliamentby using d’Hondt formulay - proportional to popular vote so the primary party dies not win many regional seats
what is ams used for?
electing scotland and wales parliaments, london assembly
how has the SNP perfomed under ams?
2011: first majority government
2016: election - lost majority and led minority government - 2 seats short
2021: election - SNP won 64 seats, one short of majority - power sharing agreement with the Greens - pro-independence
examples of tactical voting under ams:
- Alba party started by Alex Salmond in Scottish election 2021 - was trying to get voters to vote for this to make sure SNP beliefs made their way to parliament
- unionist voters in Scotland - would vote for Lab or Cons even if they didn’t fully align as that prevented SNP from getting majority in 2021 - pro remain in UK
why did not many people vote for Alba on regional lists?
Salmond was an unpopular figure due to sexual harassment claims
why is tactical voting a problem?
people are not voting fro their true candidate of choice and may not align views - undemocratic
benefits of AMS?
- broader, proportional outcome than FPTP
- smaler parties are better represented
- harder for a single party to win an overall majority of seats - encourages a 2 - party system less
drawbacks of ams?
- small size of electoral regions means that smaller parties will still remain unrepresented as need 6% of vote to win seats (ish)
- encourages tactical voting
- encourages split voting
what is split voting?
voting for 2 different parties in either vote - one on the constituency candidate and another in the regional list. This is democratic however can be games to ensure that the system favors them with smaller less powerful aprties getting votes so the big parties do not have a massive win or opposition
albania example for split voting drawbacks
election of 2005 - winning party tactic was to win 44% in constituency section, won less than 8% in regional list - urged voters to vote for small allied parties - won top up seats that opposition parties did not win.
