Elections Flashcards
What 5 functions do elections have in the UK?
- Representation
- Choosing a government
- Participation
- Citizenship education
- Accountability
Name 3 different types of voting systems
- Plurality
- Majoritarian
- Proportional Representation
What is a plurality system?
The party with the most votes wins
What is a majoritarian system?
A party must have at least 50% of the votes to win
What is a proportional representation system?
The parties should proportionally represent the distribution of the votes
How do you win with a plurality?
You win one more vote than your opponent
How many seats do you need to form a government
You need 326 seats (325 +1) in order to form a majority
How do parties enforce voting?
The party whip system
Who won the 1997 General Election?
Labour
How many seats did the 1997 Government have?
418 Seats (Tony Blair)
Who won the 2010 General Election?
No one… (coalition of Conservative and Lib Dem’s)
How many seats did the Tory-Lib Dem coalition win in 2010?
306 (David Cameron) + 62 (Nick Clegg)
What are 4 negatives of a first past the post system?
- Smaller parties do not get represented proportionally
- Larger parties get represented disproportionately
- Votes are wasted as any votes not for the winning party, or in surplus of the winner’s requirements are wasted
- Tactical voting occurs
Give an example of a smaller party being represented disproportionally in FPTP
In 2019 67 seats were won by a majority of 5% or less
Give an example of a larger party being represented disproportionately in FPTP
In 2005 Labour won 35% of the vote and 55% of the seats
What are 3 strengths of FPTP
- It produces a majority government, avoiding coalition governments, allowing for strong governments that can easily pass legislation
- It prevents radical parties coming to power
- It is a simple and easily understandable system
Give an example of a strong government
Blair 1997 won 418 seats
Give an example of extremist parties finding it hard to find seats
BNP got 500,000 votes and 0 seats
Give 2 Majoritarian voting systems
- Alternative Vote
- Supplementary vote
Give 2 Proportional Voting Systems
- Single Transferable vote
- Additional Member system
Give an example of an SV election
- In the 2016 London Mayoral election Sadiq Khan won the first round with a plurality of 44.2% (which was not a majority) thus a second round of counting took place
- All the 2nd preference votes apart from Khan and Goldsmith’s were added on
- This gave Khan a majority of 56% - enough to win the election
- Ever since the first London mayoral election (2000) no one has won a majority off of the first round of counting
Give an example of an AV election
- Labour leadership election
- Each round the bottom candidate’s votes are eliminated, and their second votes are added onto the remaining candidates
Give 3 advantages of a majoritarian system
- There is greater legitimacy
- The electors are better represented by the outcome
- There are less wasted votes
Give 3 disadvantages of the majoritarian system
- The system is not proportional - sometimes less proportional than FPTP
- It could be that the candidate with the most first preference votes actually ends up losing
- Tactical voting is still used with second preference votes
How does Single Transferable Vote work?
- Candidates are ranked in order of preference
- If a candidate has more number 1 votes than the quota they are elected
- Any votes over the amount required for the quota are transferred to the voter’s second choice
- If no one reaches the quota, the least popular candidate is eliminated and the votes of the people who voted for them are transferred to their second preference
- This process continues until every vote is used ‘
- Once all the votes are counted, every candidate who reached the quota is elected
Name 3 benefits of Single Transferable Vote?
- Greater representation
- More voter choice
- It works well in Northern Ireland as it prevents one party from completely controlling parliament
Name 3 negatives of Single Transferable Vote?
- It is very complicated
- Constituencies are large which means there is less local representation
- It would not work well in England as broad coalitions would be required
Give an example of where Single Transferable Vote is used?
Northern Irish Assembly
How does Additional Member System Work?
- Voters are given 2 ballot papers
- On the first ballot paper voters vote for an individual FPTP candidate
- On the second ballot paper voters vote for a specific party that they want to win seats
- The FPTP seats are then assigned, and additional members are added from the party list to receive their fair share of representation in parliament
Name 3 benefits of AMS
- Greater proportionality
- Helps smaller parties have a greater say and win more votes, as voters are no longer concerned that their votes will be wasted since parties are guaranteed their percentage on the second ballot
- Voters are able to vote for more specific candidates that they agree with, and then can aid their prefered party by voting for them in the party list
Name 3 negatives of AMS
- It is complicated and may result in lower turnouts
- Voters have less of a say of the individual members of parliament as they cannot choose the politicians on the party list which creates less accountability
- It creates two classes of MPs which may induce tensions
List 5 factors that affect voting behaviour in order of importance
- Age
- Ethnicity
- Location
- Class
- Gender
How does age affect voting behaviour?
- Younger people tend to be more left wing whereas older people tend to be more right wing
- As age increases by 10 years, the likelihood that an individual would vote Conservative increases by 9 points
- In the 2015 GE, in the 70+ age bracket 69% of the vote went Tory, and in the 18-19 age bracket 66% went Labour
- 47 is the age which voters are mostly likely to move their support from Labour to Conservative
How does ethnicity affect voting behaviour?
- White people lean more right, ethnic minorities lean more left
- 2015 GE UKIP received 14% of the white vote and 2% of the minority vote - Labour received 65% of the minority vote
