Chap 13 - PR

Question 1

What two things do all PR systems have in common?

Answer 1

1. Employ MULTI-MEMBER districts

2. Use a QUOTA or DIVISOR to determine who is elected in each district

Question 2

Which scholar argues that PR systems have number of advantages over Majoritarian systems?

Answer 2

LIJPHART

- Produce a more accurate translation of votes into seats

Question 3

Where does Lijphart say PR is essential?

Answer 3

Ethnically and religiously divided societies

Question 4

What does Lijphart refer to SNTV as?

Answer 4

a semi-proportional system.

Question 5

What system is used in local council elections in England and Wales?

Answer 5

Block voting (BV)

Question 6

What happens in block voting?

Answer 6

Voters have as many seats as votes

Question 7

What are the advantages of PR?

Answer 7

1. More accurate TRANSLATION OF VOTES into seats
2. Allows SMALL PARTIES to win representation in proportion to their size.
3. REDUCES STRATEGIC voting

Question 8

What do critics of PR say?

Answer 8

1. Divides in society are REPLICATED in legislature

2. No requirement for cooperation as in AV and SV

Question 9

Who is a critic of PR and opts for AV and SV?

Answer 9

Reilly

Question 10

Who examined the district magniture?

Answer 10

Carey and Hix

Question 11

What size of district magnitude is recommended by Carey and Hix?

Answer 11

3-8

Question 12

Who does Tsebelis say is most able to change existing policies in terms of government types?

Answer 12

TSEBELIS:

COALITION govts LESS ABLE to change existing policies than single party governments

Question 13

What are critics sceptical of in PR?

Answer 13

Accountability

Question 14

What do Carey and Hix say diminishes as the district size and magnitude increases?

Answer 14

The need for STRATEGIC voting

Would be zero once the magnitude is above 10

Question 15

What trade off do Carey and Hix hope to balance?

Answer 15

The representativeness-accountability trade-off

Question 16

What measure do Carey and Hix suggest to reduce party fragmentation?

Answer 16

A legal threshold such as 5% of national votes to get seat

Question 17

Why don’t Carey and Hix like SMD (single member districts)

Answer 17

In the UK they create unrepresentative governments, although they create simpler coalitions and have less parties

Question 18

What part of the world has mainly PR electoral systems?

Answer 18

Latin America

Question 19

What don’t Carey and Hix like about large multimember districts?

Answer 19

Highly representative but:

• highly FRAGMENTED party systems
• UNWIELDY MULTIPARTY coalition government

Question 20

What do Carey and Hix think expanding the district magnitude from 1 to 5 will do to parliament and government?

Answer 20

• increase the number of effective parties in parliament by 1.
• increase the number of parties in govt by a half

Question 21

Who notes that when given the chance, voters overwhelmingly use a preferential extra vote?

Answer 21

Carey