Electora systems essay plan

Question 1

• ‘trustees’ rather than delegates essential in representative democracy to advance best interests of electorate

Answer 1

o ‘Delegates’ merely act out will of the people; ‘trustees’ in the Burkean theory of representation have autonomy to speak and vote in the interests of their constituency, vital to represent that constituency and advance their interests

Question 2

How is ‘trustee’ system complicated by Westminster pressure

Answer 2

, use of three-line whips ensure MPs vote in a particular way lest the whip be withdrawn and they have to sit as an independent. In a vote on Heathrow expansion in 2018, 8 Tory MPs defied the 3 line. Thus, representation less important in an electoral system as it becomes blurred by other influences

Question 3

What was the turnout in 2001

Answer 3

59.4%.

Question 4

What was the turnout in 2017

Answer 4

68.8%

Question 5

What was the turnout in 2019

Answer 5

67.3

Question 6

What did MP Alaistair Mcdonnel get in 2015 election

Answer 6

24.5% of the vote.

Question 7

What did the the Electoral Reform Society predict in 2015

Answer 7

predicted the outcome of 368 safe seats - over half of parliament.

Question 8

How much of tory seats safe in 2015

Answer 8

61% according to the Electoral Reform Society

Question 9

How much of labour seats safe in 2015

Answer 9

58% according to the Electoral Reform Society

Question 10

How does fptp encourage moderation and limit extremism

Answer 10

In 2010, BNP got 563,743 but not a single MP, whilst Conservatives got 306 seats with about 35,000 votes per seat

Question 11

How many seats did Tony Blair win in 1997

Answer 11

418 seats

Question 12

What is an example of weak links mp-constituents

Answer 12

In sparsely populated areas, like the Scottish Highlands, STV has led lead to enormous constituencies
) Furthermore, each ward in Scotland has 3-4 councillors meaning that people may be confused as to who to approach with issues. For example, Glasgow East Centre ward has 4 councillors – 3 Labour and 1 SNP.

Question 13

How does STV show proportionality?

Answer 13

in the 2016 Local Government Election in Scotland, SNP received 46.5% of votes and 48.8% of seats; Labour received 22% of votes for 24% of seats.

Question 14

How is STV good for voter choice?

Answer 14

o Works through ranked voting thus multiple candidates chosen in order of preference. Unlike FPTP where lack of choice on which candidate a party puts forward. One might like a candidate but not their party, putting you in a bind under FPTP. For example, in Glasgow East Centre an SNP supporter might be more likely to approach the SNP councillor in the ward, Jennifer Dunn, rather than one of the Labour councillors for the area. Using STV means that people have the option

Question 15

What is donkey voting?

Answer 15

This has led to people filling in ballot papers incorrectly in Scottish Local Government elections. Donkey voting where voters just rank candidates in the order they appear on the ballot - stv also takes longer to count

Question 16

Issue with STV (too many representatives)

Answer 16

o For example, Glasgow East Centre ward has 4 councillors – 3 Labour and 1 SNP. Who do people contact with concerns about their area?

Question 17

Issue with stv (weak gov’t)

Answer 17

Contrast to the 2012 election, 22 of Scotland’s 32 LAs have no party in overall control (NOC) and are run as minority/coalition councils.
A 2013 Audit Scotland Report into Aberdeen City Council found that political feuds and infighting were preventing real progress from being made.

Question 18

What dies A 2013 Audit Scotland Report show?

Answer 18

political feuds and infighting were preventing real progress from being made.

Question 19

How does AMS give the greatest choice to voters

Answer 19

o AMS works by giving the voter 2 votes. 1 ballot paper for constituency and another for regional MSPs. An example might be the constituency MSP for the Glasgow Proven Constituency being Paul Martin, who belongs to the Scottish Labour Party. This represents citizens as AMS produces a fairly proportional result, but still maintains a clear link between voters and their representatives.

Question 20

What does AMS give that FPTP?

Answer 20

Chance for voters to make a difference
. Choosing both top up and constituency members means having a genuine impact
. In the North East of England, 79% of seats are safe.’ Reduces participation as for some recognition their vote won’t matter (disillusionment).

Question 21

How is AMS anti-democratic?

Answer 21

• Party chooses who is on the list that voters choose from, limits dissident members
  o In 2003, Margo MacDonald, an experienced and popular MSP resigned from SNP, due to internal party squabbling, as she was placed a lowly 6th on the SNPs list for the Lothian’s region.
  stv better in this case as they can number their preference

Question 22

How does AMS still disadvantage smaller parties

Answer 22

o E.g. in Wales, the small number of top-up seats has advantaged Labour (e.g. in the Welsh Assembly elections in 2016, Labour won 27 constituency seats, and top up seats only accounted for 20 seats in total, with UKIP getting the most – 7)

Question 23

Why is a stable gov’t overrated, whats wrong with coalitiosh

Answer 23

• Coalitions are better to ensure democratic pluralism and multiplicity of ideas
  o Before STV was used in local government elections, councils across Scotland were dominated by Labour. The introduction of the STV means that more parties are represented and have a say in Scotland’s 32 local authorities – arguably more democratic. Con/LD coalition shows possible with stability

Question 24

How does referendums been a democratising force

Answer 24

• Provides majority consensus, giving a mandate for major constitutional reform
  o Professor Vernon Bogdanor has said that it is “illusory” in today’s climate “to believe that you can confine legislative matters solely to parliamentarians”. AV 2011 rejected, Brexit now being enacted; similarly, devolution in 1998

Question 25

What does Professor Vernon Bogdanor believe?

Answer 25

said that it is “illusory” in today’s climate “to believe that you can confine legislative matters solely to parliamentarians”.

Question 26

How much did Vote leave spend on adverts and what was wrong with it

Answer 26

Vote Leave campaign spent more than £2.7m on targeting ads at specific groups of people on Facebook, often with ridiculous false claims (‘the EU blocks our ability to speak out and protect polar bears’). We have representative democracy for a reason – MPs better informed

Question 27

What is wrong with the average voter

Answer 27

o Average voter less political experience thus open to manipulation; the infamous £350m to NHS claim on Boris Johnson’s bus, or Cambridge Analytica’s scandalous targeted Facebook ads exploiting voter vulnerabilities as revealed by whistle-blower Chris Wylie.

Question 28

What was the turnout of the AV referendum

Answer 28

o 42.4% turnout for the AV referendum in 201

Question 29

What is the average turnout for a referendum

Answer 29

The average turnout at a referendum is 55%

Question 30

What is the average turnout for a GE

Answer 30

66.8% for general elections

Question 31

What did Nat le Roux call referendums

Answer 31

o Nat le Roux: ‘generating irresolvable paradoxes of legitimacy’

Question 32

How has referendums been used in political opportunism

Answer 32

o Labour’s promise of a referendum on the voting system under John Smith in the 1990’s is an example: the shadow cabinet was split over PR and a promise of a future referendum (which Tony Blair incidentally never fulfilled) was a convenient way out of the impasse.
same with Cameron n Brexit

Question 33

What is an issue of referendums when it comes to Mandate?

Answer 33

• Ambiguity in what percentage constitutes a mandate for change therefore lacks democratic legitimacy

Question 34

Whats an issue with referendums and mandate pt 2

Answer 34

o Blair has said a second Brexit referendum would be ‘perfectly rational’, and many constitutional analysts propose that ‘a referendum won by a very narrow margin is an insufficient mandate for major change’ and thus should require a ‘super-majority’. Only 51.9% voted Brexit; is that enough?

Question 35

How have coalitions been better in Scotland

Answer 35

Democratic pluralism

2007 Greens signed an agreement with SNP that theyd support them as long as they back climate change bill

Question 36

How has the political system in NI been good?

Answer 36

o Good Friday Agreement requires that representatives of the main unionist and nationalist parties are included in the executive. The choice of STV for Assembly elections guarantees that members of the two rival communities are elected, rather than Northern Ireland submitting to single-party domination as this could risk a return to sectarian violence.

Question 37

Show proportionality within STV

Answer 37

NI Assembly elections, Green Party received 7.4% of seats for 7% of the votes,