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Deel 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

Four approaches on politics

A
  • Politics as an arena
  • Politics as a process
  • Politics as conflict and compromise
  • Politics as power
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2
Q

Five approaches to study politics

A
  • Institutions (institutional approach)
  • Individuals (behavioural approach)
  • Interrelations (structural approach)
  • Interests (rational-choice approach)
  • Ideas (interpretive approach)
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3
Q

Power (to)

A

the capacity to bring about intended effects; ability to achieve goals

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4
Q

Power (over)

A

forceful mode of influence; focuses on relationships. ‘the ability to influence or force
others to do something that they would not have done otherwise’

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5
Q

Key elements of political power

A
  1. Power
  2. Authority. The right to exercise power and influence of a particular position that comes with
    that position.
  3. Legitimacy. Citizen’s belief that the power-holders have the right to exercise power and
    authority. ! Different from legality (being lawful)
  4. Jurisdiction (sovereignty). The territory or sphere of activity over which the legal authority of
    (political) power extends.
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6
Q

Two conceptions of the state based on:

A
  • Natural Rights

- General Will

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7
Q

Heredity:

A

power and authority is passed on to one who is a member of (royal) family

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8
Q

Affiliation:

A

power and authority is passed among members of a group/party

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9
Q

Ideal criteria of democracy:

A
  1. Effective participation: before a policy is adopted, all the citizens must have equal and
    effective opportunities for making their views known to other citizens.
  2. Equality in voting: when decisions about policy are made, every citizen must have an equal
    and effective opportunity to vote and all votes must be counted as equal.
  3. Enlightened understanding: within reasonable limits, each citizen must have equal and
    effective opportunities to learn about the relevant alternative policies and their likely
    consequences.
  4. Control of the agenda: citizens must have the opportunity to decide how and what matters
    are to be placed on the agenda.
  5. Inclusion of adults: with minimal exceptions, all permanent adult residents should have the
    full rights of citizens that are implied by the first four criteria.
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10
Q

Realistic criteria of democracy: (Dahl)

A
  1. Elected officials: decisions are check and legitimated by elected representatives.
  2. Free, fair, and frequent elections: elected officials are chosen in frequent, free and fair
    election
  3. Alternative sources of information: citizens have the right and the possibility to gather
    information from alternative and independent sources.
  4. Freedom of expression: citizens have the right to express themselves, also in a critical sense,
    on all possible political and administrative matters
  5. Freedom of assembly and association: citizens are free to organize themselves in
    associations and groups, including independent interest groups and political parties taking
    part in elections
  6. Inclusive citizenship: with minimal exceptions, no citizens are excluded from the
    abovementioned rights and opportunities, including the right to elect or be elected
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11
Q

Stages of democratisation:

A
  • Subversion/ liberalisation of authoritarian regime
  • Transition to democracy
  • Consolidation of democracy
  • Deepening democracy
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12
Q

Three aspects of democracy:

A
  • Level of democracy: presence and substantiality. To what extent we have democracy.
  • Model of democracy: institutional settings. Not all democracies are the same.
  • Quality/ performance of democracy: effectiveness and legitimacy. Is the democracy
    developed or still developing.
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13
Q

Two dimensions of democracy

A
  • Contestation (competition). Right to compete. Rate of contestation/cooperation.
  • Participation (inclusiveness). Right to participate. Rate of participation
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14
Q

Forms of authoritarianism:

A
  • Absolute monarchy: ruling sovereign from royal family (Saudi Arabia)
  • Ruling party: rule by a single party (China, Cuba)
  • Ruling president: a president dominates government and media (Zimbabwe)
  • Military rule: the military ruling through a junta (regering, commissie, comité, bestuur,
    regime of raadsvergadering) (Myanmar)
  • Theocracy: religious leaders rule (Iran, only theocracy)
  • Competitive authoritarian regimes: ‘democracy without turnover, completion without
    alteration’ Huntington (Russia)
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15
Q

Criteria of democratic elections:

A
  1. Suffrage: right of voting.
  2. Frequent: elections must be held regularly and periodically.
  3. Integrity: truthful vote counting, pre-established rules, independent observations,
    independent organisation to solve disputes.
  4. Free: freedom of expression, information, assembly, candidacy, voting.
  5. Fair: fair competition, fair access of all candidates/parties to the public facilities (funding,
    media) and voters.
  6. Effective: elected officials should be those who are the final decisionmakers, they are the
    main/real decision makers.
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16
Q

Scope

A

number of elected posts

  • National
  • Regional/local
  • Judiciary
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17
Q

Franchise

A 
Who can vote, The voting age
- 18 in 86% of nations
- 16 in Argentina, Austria
- 17 in Indonesia, Korea
- 20 in Japan
- Voting right for
- Prisoners. (allowed to vote, denied based on length and type of crimes, banned to vote
or banned to vote and might be restricted after release)
- Non-citizen residents
- Citizens living overseas
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18
Q

Why elections? Normative criteria of elections:

A
  1. Providing representation
    - Geographic, ideological, party, and descriptive (mirror of nation)
  2. Making elections accessible and meaningful
  3. Providing incentives (aansporing) for conciliation
  4. Facilitating stable and efficient government
  5. Holding the government accountable
  6. Holding individual representatives accountable
  7. Encouraging political party competition
  8. Promoting legislative opposition and oversight
  9. Making electoral processes sustainable
  10. Meeting international standards
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19
Q

Electoral district or constituency

A 
District magnitude (M): the number of seats per constituency. Average M=size of
assembly / number of constituencies
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20
Q

Families of electoral systems

A
  • Plurality and majority systems: winner-takes-all system, the winner is the one receiving the
    greatest number of votes in a constituency.
  • Proportional representation (PR) systems: proportionality between share of votes and seats
    of parties for each constituency.
  • Mixed systems: combining plurality (for geographical representation) and PR (for party
    representation).
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21
Q

Electoral formula

A

how votes are translated to seats

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22
Q

Ballot structure

A

how voters can express their choices (open vs. closed lists)

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23
Q

Electoral threshold

A

the minimum votes needed by a party to secure representation; lower is
more proportional

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24
Q

Partisan (partijgeest) dealignment

A

the weakening bonds between electors and parties

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25
Q

Factors contributing to partisan dealignment

A
  • Disillusionment with party politics. Events such as Watergate, and more recent publicity
    about corruption, reduce popular trust in parties.
  • Convergence of party policies. If policies diverge again, party loyalties may also recover.
  • Decay of social divisions. As the class cleavage weakens, so too do loyalties to parties based
    on it.
  • Rising education. Educated voters can interpret events with less need for party cues.
  • Television becomes the dominant medium. Replaces the more partisan coverage in many
    newspapers.
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26
Q

Impact of dealignment

A
  • New parties such as the Greens and the far right gained ground
  • Turnout and active participation in campaigns fell
  • Electoral volatility increased
  • Split-ticket voting increased. Split-ticket voting occurs when electors vote for candidates from
    more than one party in an election covering several offices.
  • More electors decided how to vote closer to election day
  • Issue voting increased
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27
Q

Functions of legislature

A

Legislature as agent:
 Representation: members represent and promote the interest of those who elected them.
 Deliberation (debating): debate for matters of public importance.
- Debating legislatures
- Committee-based legislatures
 Legislation (law-making): proposing (bills), reviewing, amending, and approving new laws.
 Authorising expenditure: approve or reject the annual budget proposed by the government;
particularly by the lower house.
Legislature as principal:
 Making governments: (in parliamentary systems) government emerges from the assembly
and must retain its confidence.
 Scrutiny and control: overseeing or scrutinising the executive, keeping it accountable.
- Questions
- Interpellations
- Emergency debates

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28
Q

Why or why not bicameralism?

A

Why?
- Allow one chamber to represent population and the second to represent the interests of
subunits
- Body of experts scrutiny and review
- Further check on the power of the lower chamber
Why not?
- Single chamber is cheaper, simpler, more efficient
- Avoid duplication and deadlock
- Checks and balances can be provided by other institutions

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29
Q

Two dimensions of bicameralism:

A
  • Congruence of the selection methods of the chambers

- Symmetry of the powers of the chambers

30
Q

Presidential Power Index (Siaroff, 2003): 9 indicators

A
  1. Popularly elected
  2. Concurrent election of president and legislature
  3. Discretionary appointment powers
  4. Chairing of cabinet meetings
  5. Right of veto
  6. Long-term emergency and/or decree powers
  7. Central role in foreign policy
  8. Central role in government formation
  9. Ability to dissolve the legislature
31
Q

Executive in presidential system:

A
  • People directly elect the president
  • President serves as head of government as well as head of state
  • Usually limited number of terms (two) in office
  • Elected president appoints ministers and steers the government
  • Fixed term of offices for the president and the legislature
  • Less overlap in membership between the executive and the legislature
  • Cabinet is not accountable to the parliament
32
Q

Executive in semi-presidential system

A
  • People directly elect the president
  • A limited fixed terms of office for the president
  • Elected president appoints prime minister
  • Prime minister heads a cabinet; both are accountable to parliament and president
  • President serves as head of state and shares responsibility of being head of government with
    the prime minister
  • President has a considerable power and especially for foreign affairs
33
Q

Executive in (semi) parliamentary system

A
  • Prime minister (premier, chancellor) normally leads the largest party
  • Prime minister is head of government; head of state is a ceremonial president or monarch
  • Coalition of parties if no party has the absolute majority
  • Cabinet with collective responsibility, PM is the first among equals
  • No fixed term, possibility of snap election (an election called earlier than expected)
  • Cabinet is accountable to the parliament and subject to a vote of no confidence
34
Q

Types of parliamentary government/coalition:

A
  1. Single party government

2. Coalition government

35
Q

Types of distribution of sovereignty

A
  1. Unitary states
    - Sovereignty lies exclusively with the central government
    - Mostly has only one chamber, reflecting central supremacy
    - Emerged naturally in societies historically ruled by sovereign monarch and emperor such
    as Britain, France and Japan
    - The norm in smaller democracies without strong ethnic divisions
  2. Federalism (federation)
    - A form of multilevel governance
    - Sharing sovereignty between two levels, central and state (or provincial) government
    - Exclusive, concurrent and residual powers
    - Common in large (measured by area or population) countries
    Asymmetric federalism: some states within a federation have more autonomy than others, in
    response to cultural differences
    Dual federalism: national and subnational governments operate independently
    Cooperative federalism: collaboration between levels
    Two routes to a federation:
    - Coming together by creating a new central authority
    - Holding together by transferring sovereignty to lower levels
    The main historical incentive (aansporing): coming together to secure the military and
    economic advantages of scale, in response to strong competitors
    A modern alternative: free trade areas without sovereignty issues; still interest in ethnic
    federations, however with the danger of reinforcing the divisions they were designed to
    accommodate
  3. Quasi-federation (semi-federal or hybrid unions)
    18
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    lOMoARcPSD|9413832
    - Formally unitary but has some features of a federation
    - Some independent powers are (constitutionally) recognized for certain constituent
    territorial units (known also as devolution)
  4. Confederation
    - Looser link between component states which retain their own sovereignty
    - Central government acts as an agent of the component states
    - Weak centre, lacked direct authority over people
36
Q

Institutional criteria of federalism

A
  1. Independently elected subnational and national governmental institutions
  2. A constitution that guarantees sovereignty to the subnational governments and provide some
    distribution of responsibilities between national and subnational
  3. Institutions to represent subnational preferences within national political institutions
    (bicameralism)
37
Q

Strengths and weaknesses federal system

A

-A practical arrangement for large countries
- Less effective in responding to security
threat
- Provides checks and balances
- Decision-making is slow and complicated
- Allows for the recognition of diversity
- Can entrench divisions between provinces
- Reduce overload at the centre
- The centre experience difficulty in launching
national initiatives
- Offer opportunities for policy experiments
- Complicate accountability: who is
responsible?
- Provides competition between provinces
and allows people to relocate
- How citizens are treated depends on where
they live

38
Q

Three ways in dispersing power

A
  • Deconcentration: denoting a relocation of central government to spread the work around;
    administrative matter
  • Delegation: policy execution is delegated to subnational bodies
  • Devolution (used in hybrid unions/semi-federals): the centre grants decision-making
    autonomy to lower levels or some territorial units
39
Q

Societal culture

A

shared motives, values, beliefs and interpretations that guide the way social actors
select actions, evaluate people and events, and explain their actions and evaluations. (Simply put:
shared values and beliefs in a given group / software (collective programming) of the mind).

40
Q

Societal culture

A

shared motives, values, beliefs and interpretations that guide the way social actors
select actions, evaluate people and events, and explain their actions and evaluations. (Simply put:
shared values and beliefs in a given group / software (collective programming) of the mind).

41
Q

Causes of cultural differences

A

->Groups differ in environment
- Climate
- Sustenance (hunt/gather, farm, herd)
- History (path dependent!)
Group-wise social structure

-> Moral feelings (good/bad behaviour, reputation)
- Learning (transferring values and practices)
Divergence (afwijking) of cultures is expected!

42
Q

2 different approaches culture and politics:

A

Approach 1: culture does not matter..
 Cultural relativists: each culture is unique and cultural values and social practices cannot be
compared and classified; reject any cultural explanation for variation in politics
(anthropologists)
 Rational choice theorist: rational interests prevail over cultural orientations of individuals
 Marxists: culture is a ‘superstructure’ that is utilised by the ruling class to legitimate
oppression and justify inequality
Approach 2: culture matters..
 Culturalists: (mainly or even only) culture matters in human development and political
democracy; good vs. bad culture
 Constrained relativism: stand between relativists and culturalists. Cultural compatibility
matters.

43
Q

Post-materialism

A

a set of values emphasizing self-expression and the quality of life over materialist
values such as economic growth and physical security. They include a commitment to self-expression,
human diversity, individual liberty, and autonomy.

44
Q

Referenda can be initiated by

A 
 Policymakers (top-down)
- Legislative majority
- Legislative minority
- President or equivalent
 Citizens (bottom-up)
 Constitutionally required
45
Q

Different reasons to put a subject on a referendum ballot voluntarily:

A

 Consolidation of power: the political leader or main coalition partner is trying to consolidate
its own position through organising a referendum
 Disagreement motive: the political elite wants to resolve any internal problems within the
own party, coalition or with different relevant external actors
 Legitimacy motive: there is a great deal of external pressure on the political leadership to
organise a referendum (citizens, civil society, polls, petitions etc.); not organising a
referendum could undermine the legitimacy of the elite
 ‘The last resort’ motive: could be an instrument to use if it is impossible to implement
something through ordinary parliamentary channels

46
Q

What is the purpose of a referendum?

A

 Corrective: aim of the referendum is to reject or repeal existing legislation or a legislative
proposal; i.e. to prevent change.
Usually initiated through:
- Citizens (bottom-up)
- Parliamentary minority (top-down)
- Constitution or law (mandatory)
 Advancing: the referendum proposes new legislation; i.e. to advocate change

47
Q

Why should we use referendums?

A

 Purest form of ‘demos’ ‘kratea’: sovereignty of the people and direct power by the people
 Important decisions can be strengthened if they receive the direct consent of people
 Referendums can educate the public about political issues
 Can resolve political problems, particularly for incumbent governments
 Possibility of re-engaging voters with politics and democracy within a modern context of
increasing voter apathy and disenchantment
 Compensates shortcomings of representative democracy, e.g. transcendental changes that
were not party of original campaign
 Eliminates certain undemocratic pressure and lobby groups in the process of policy making
 Referendums also have an indirect effect on politics: politicians will have to take into account
the possibility of a referendum when proposing legislation
 The possibility of initiating a referendum increases the trust people have in politics

48
Q

Why shouldn’t we use referendums?

A

 It weakens representative democracy by undermining the role and importance of elected
representatives
 Referendums can lead to simplification of very complex and nuanced issues
 Voters do not always have the knowledge required to make an informed decision about the
issue at stake; they are badly informed, uneducated in politics and lack political experience
 Referendums create irresponsible governments: they allow governments to remove
themselves from their legal and sworn responsibility
 The people do not make informed decisions in referendums, they vote based on emotions
 Referendums may encourage the ‘tyranny of the people’ which results in oppressions of
minorities
 Reasonable chance of manipulation of the referendum through the question and public
education campaign
 A very close referendum vote may result in an unsatisfactory conclusion and fail to achieve
acceptance of the outcome

49
Q

Classifying party systems

A

 No-party system: no parties allowed to compete with authority of ruler (Saudi Arabia)
 Single-party system: only one legal party allowed (China, North Korea)
 Dominant party system: one party is almost always in government (South Africa, Russia,
Japan)
 Two-party system: two major parties compete to run majority government (USA)
 Multi-party system: multiple parties serious contenders for government coalition
membership (most of Europe)

50
Q

Duverger’s law: two mechanisms

A
  1. Mechanical effect:
     Plurality rule gives relative advantage to larger parties over small ones
     For example: in 2015 UKIP gained 12,6% of the votes but only 1 seat!
  2. Psychological factor:
     Voters do not want to waste their vote on a party that is bound to lose
     Strategic voting instead of sincere voting
     Empirical evidence that strategic voting occurs
51
Q

Different parties

A
  1. Cadre party
    - 19th century
    - Restricted suffrage (kiesrecht)
    - Elite-centred: “groups of men in pursuit of public interest – of perhaps their own”
  2. Mass party
    - 1880 – 1960
    - Mass suffrage (kiesrecht)
    - Party membership logical consequence of identity
    - Strong dependence on member fees and accountable to members
    - “Act as the agent of his segment of society in pursuit of its own interest”
    - Working-class socialist parties
  3. Catch-all party
    - 1945 – present
    - “Act as a brokers between civil society and the state bureaucracy”
    - Conversion instead of mobilization
    - “Ideologically bland, bowing to the law of the political market, downplaying or
    abandoning ideology, bidding for the support of interest groups, emphasizing the
    qualities of leaders, seeking support wherever it could be found”
    - Members are cheerleaders
  4. Cartel party
    - 1970 – present
    - Parties dependent on state subsidies rather members
    - Parties operate as cartel and use the state to protect their own interests:
     State subsidies
     Access to media
     Excluding outsiders
    - Ideological convergence (het naar elkaar toe bewegen)
    - “A vote for Samson, is a vote for Rutte”
    - Parties collude rather than compete, opposition is not a shock
    - Members have more rights but are less organised and privileged
52
Q

Cleavage

A

social division creating a collective identity among those on each side of the divide”
Kloof in de maatschappij
 Owner vs. industrial worker
 Religious vs. secular
 Centre vs. periphery
 Industry (urban) vs. agriculture (rural)

53
Q

Why are cleavages important?

A

 Sociological approach (Lipset and Rokkan 1967)
- Cleavage structure determines which issues can be integrated in politics
 Strategic approach (e.g. Schattschneider 1960)
- Competitive struggle between political parties determines the contents of societal
conflict
- “The substation of conflicts is the most devastating kind of political strategy”

54
Q

Conventional participation

A 
within formal politics/ institutions
- Voting: general elections, referendums
Party membership
- Membership of unions (interest groups)
- Contact politicians/ representatives
55
Q

Unconventional participation

A

outside or even against the formal politics

- Peaceful demonstration, petitioning, boycotting, mobilising through social media

56
Q

Illegal

A

civil disobedience, occupying public spaces, political violence

57
Q

Four types of participants

A
  1. Voters
  2. Campaigners
  3. Contactors
  4. Communal activists
58
Q

Reasons to participate

A
  1. Idealism: wish to bring about change
  2. Responsibility: civic responsibility to respect for all efforts made over time for this right
  3. Concern: concerned about problems facing the society and wish to play role as part of
    potential solutions
  4. Self-interest: promote issues that bring personal benefits
  5. Enjoyment: engagement with the community or the excitement of the competition
59
Q

Those who participate more (mainly in formal politics) have

A 
 Resources:
- Education
- Money
- Status
- Communication skills
 Political interest
- More engaged with formal politics
- Not preoccupied with survival issues
- The environment encourages interest in current affairs
60
Q

Gender quotas to enhance women participation

A

 Reserved seats: some seats are reserved for women
 Legislative (or candidate quotas): electoral law requires each party to adopt a specific
proportion of female candidates
 Party quotas: parties voluntarily decide to adopt a specific proportion of female candidates

61
Q

Gender quotas: pros and cons

A

Pros :
 Quotas for women do not discriminate, but compensate for actual barriers that prevent
women from their fair share of political seats
 Political parties control the nominations, and the voters decide who gets elected; therefore
quotas are not violations of voters’ rights
 Women’s experiences are needed in political life
 Women are just as qualified as men, but women’s qualifications are downgraded and
minimised in a male-dominated political system
 Introducing quotas may cause conflicts, but may be only temporarily
Cons:
 Quotas are against the principle of equal opportunity for all, since women are given
preference over men
 Quotas are undemocratic, because voters should be able to decide who is elected
 Many women do not want to get elected just because they are women
 Quotas imply that politicians are elected because of their gender, not because of their
qualifications and that more qualified candidates are pushed aside
 Introducing quotas creates significant conflicts within the party organisation

62
Q

Two perspectives on participation:

A

Promoting participation:
 Political participation is both obligation and exercise of personal development (Aristotle)
 Nonparticipation is free-riding
 Higher participation is better for good governance
Limited participation:
 People are not naturally political animal
 Too much participation is overheating
 Limited participation shows the health of political system
 Monitoring as a form of participation
 Channels should be open, not in constant use

63
Q

Input legitimacy

A

electoral democracy (representation)

64
Q

Output legitimacy

A

quality of government

65
Q

Why democracy matters?

A

Intrinsic arguments:
 Freedom and development are inseparable (Amartya Sen)
 Development means the expansion of human capacities, not just material wealth and income
 Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes fundamental freedoms and democratic
rights
Instrumental arguments:
 Democratic governance is good for economic growth, peace and stability (

66
Q

Equilibrium Theory

A

need to combine democracy (input legitimacy) with governance capacity (output
legitimacy) for effective development (Norris, 2012)
 Democracy and governance understood as distinct concepts
 The interaction of both democracy and governance is predicted to prove most effective for
developmental goals
 The challenge is to expand simultaneously both citizen’s democratic demands and the
capacity of governments to respond to these demands
 But there are tensions and contradictions in pursuing these goals

67
Q

Features of good governance – input side

A

 Participation
- Direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives
- Freedom of association and expression, organised civil society
 Equity and inclusiveness
- All members of society have a stake and not excluded
- The most vulnerable have opportunity to improve and maintain their well-being
 Consensus orientated
- Mediation of different interests to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interest
of the whole community
- Understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or
community
 Transparency
- Enough information is provided and that it is provided in easily understandable forms and
media
- Information is freely, easily available to those affected by decisions and their enforcement

68
Q

Features of good governance – output side

A

 Responsiveness
- Serving stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe
 Accountability
- Accountability of governmental institutions as well as private sector and civil society
organisations to the public
- Cannot be enforced without transparency and rule of law
 Rule of law
- Fair legal framework enforced impartially
- Protection of human rights, independent judiciary, incorruptible police force
 Effectiveness and efficiency
- Institutions and processes produce results that meet needs of society
- Optimal and sustainable use of resources and protection of environment

69
Q

Types of measures for performances outcomes

A

 Statistics-based. We have a bunch of numbers/facts, and based on that we say how much
growth there is. For example: Human Development Index (HDI). A geometric mean of life
expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators.
 Expert-evaluated. Sometimes we cannot measure something, like corruption. You have to go
and find indicators. Corruption Perception Index (CPI). Corruption: the abuse of entrusted
power for private gain. It can be classified as grand, petty and political, depending on the
amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs.
 Citizen-evaluated. Satisfaction with Democracy (world values survey). Support for
democracy: democracy as the best system of government (input oriented). Satisfaction with
democracy: satisfied with how democracy is actually working in practice (output oriented).
 Combination of expert- and citizen-evaluated. Function of Government by the Economist
Intelligence Unit. The Economist Intelligence Unit measures the function of government by
asking:
- Is there an effective system of checks and balances on the exercise of government
authority? (expert-evaluated)
- Government is free of undue influence by the military or the security services. (expertevaluated)
- Is the civil service willing and capable of implementing government policy? (expertevaluated)
- Public confidence in government (citizen-evaluated)

70
Q

quorum

A

the minimum number of voters which should participate in referendum/ vote for
particular option to make result of the referendum valid

71
Q

Two types of quorum:

A

 Participation quorum. Requires that the total number of votes exceeds a particular
threshold. Encourages abstention (onthouding), allowing those who prefer the status quo to
manipulate the outcome by failing to turn out. Status quo voters have double chance of
winning: voting/abstaining  prisoners dilemma.
 Approval quorum. The required threshold is applied to the number of votes cast in favour of
the proposal.

72
Q

Examples of voting systems for referenda:

A

Single non-transferable vote
 Yes/no question or
 Choose between alternatives
(Most votes wins)
Pro: Simple method
Contra: In case of 2+ alternatives, no real ‘winner’
Two round system
 In case there is no absolute majority in the first round, a second round is organised
Pro: there is a winner
Contra: high costs
Preferential voting (alternative vote)
 Organize options in order of preference
Pro: votes can order their preferences
Option with most votes wins
Contra: high chances of invalid votes
Approval voting
 The electorate can vote on as many options as they like. They can accept or disapprove none,
one or all options. Each option is accepted or rejected by the voter.
Pro: simple method
Preferences are visible in results  gives a clear picture
Contra: questionable whether there will be a majority winner
What if there is a tie?

Political science (1 decks)

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