Chapter 16 - Elections Flashcards
What is first-order elections?
Elections at which the stakes are highest, usually involving the prospect of change of national leadership or government.
Second-order elections?
Elections at which the stakes are lower, such as local or mid-term elections, and which are used by many voters to express a judgement on the national government.
Define electoral formula.
How votes are converted into seats.
Define Electoral system
A general term for the rules governing an election.
What is a single-member plurality and what system is this a part of? (SMP)
It’s a part of plurality system and it’s an electoral system based on districts that each have one representative. The rep got the most votes, but not necessarily majority
Explain the two ways of majority systems
Runoff-election, if one candidate get 50% that one is the winner, if not, the top two candidates run again against each other.
Alternative vote (AV), the voter ranks all candidates. If one wins majority, that one is elected, if not, the last one is crossed off and the vote is reassigned.
Define proportional representation (PR)
An electoral system in which the number of seats won by each of the competing parties is proportional to the number of votes they each win.
What is the party list system within PR?
The system used in Sweden. Each party puts forward a list with names from which the voter may pick a candidate to vote for.
What is the single transferable vote (STV) within PR?
Less common than party list, requires voters to rank candidates, if one reaches the preset quota that one is elected. Lowest ranking are cut, and then a vote is repeated in this manner until all seats are filled.
What are the four types of electoral systems mentioned in the book?
Plurality system
Majority system
Proportional system
Mixed system
What is mixed member majority, within the mixed electoral system?
A combination of PR and plurality vote, kind of like högskoleantagning where some are accepted from HP and some from meritpoäng.
What is distribution requirements?
Rules that specifying how a winning candidate’s votes must be arranged across different regions or groups.
What is a mandate?
The permission to act on someone another’s behalf in a specific area.
What is a referendum?
A vote of the electorate on a limited issue of public policy such as a constitutional amendment.
What are some issues with referendums?
They can be expensive
The issue may be to complex for yes/no
They can polarize the electorate
It depends on voters doing their research
The timing is critical
Too many can tire the voters
It’s unclear how to ensure consistency or how long it should be vaild
The view is often wider than the actual proposal on the ballot.
