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pol sci > electoral systems > Flashcards

electoral systems Flashcards

1
Q

what is the difference between electoral systems and electoral laws?

A

electoral systems is how votes are converted into seats

electoral laws is how elections are conducted

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2
Q

what are the goals of the electoral system from the perspective of THE PUBLIC/EXPERTS?

A
  1. representation of voters
  2. electing qualified representatives
  3. producing stable and strong government
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3
Q

what are the goals of the electoral system from the perspective of POLITICAL PARTIES?

A
  1. to stay or get into power
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4
Q

what are the other goals of the electoral system?

A
  1. diverse representation
  2. strong voter participation
  3. variety of party choices
  4. simple or complex voting system
  5. candidate based or party based system
  6. single party or coalition government
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5
Q

what are the views of representation?

A
  1. microcosm - parliament reflecting population
    : more diverse representation for everyone
  2. principal agent views - people delegating power to those they want
    : mostly elites
    : not enough representation
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6
Q

what are the types of ballot structure?

A
  1. alphatical
  2. catergorical
  3. randomised
  4. ordinal
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7
Q

what are the types of electoral systems?

A
  1. non-proportional
    - SMC/SMP
    - TRS
    - AV
    - PMB
  2. proportional
    - PR list
    - MMP
    - MMR
    - PR STV
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8
Q

all about SMP/SMC

A
  1. more votes to win
  2. only one person gets elected in that district
  3. candidate-based

good stuff:

  • simple voting structure
  • stable single party gov
  • geographic representation

bad stuff:

  • wasted votes
  • not everyone gets represented
  • promotes individualism
  • winning party monopolizes representation
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9
Q

what is duverger’s law?

A

1 person elected but 2 party come out of it because merge

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10
Q

all about trs (two round system)

A
  1. anti dote to smp
  2. only one person gets elected
  3. must have a certain reach before qualifying for next round

good stuff:

  • centrism
  • majority wins not plurality

bad stuff:

  • too much work to do two rounds
  • voters fatigue
  • top candidates might be from same spectrum leaving voters with no choice
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11
Q

all about av (alternative vote)

A
  1. ranking system
  2. only one person elected

good stuff:

  • smaller parties can get voted in
  • people can rank based on their preference so even if they don’t get first choice elected, the 2nd choice might be okay with them
  • only one day

bad stuff:

  • still only one person gets in
  • illusion of choice
  • never rank all means vote not counted
  • wasted votes
  • smaller parties can get excluded when they are unable to get seats due to low ranks
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12
Q

all about pmb (plurality member block)

A
  1. heavily biased
  2. multiple members of a party get elected into power

good stuff:

  • candidates elected as team so more collective good matches sg
  • diverse candidates that people can relate to one or the other

bad stuff:

  • still only one being elected in
  • extremely disporportional as 1 extra vote can get the whole team in
  • amplifies gains; 1 tiny vote makes big changes
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13
Q

all about pr list

A
  1. seats based on votes earned
  2. party centered
  3. more parties can get in because based on votes
  4. coalition gov more common
  5. more diverse representation
  6. no single representation per geographic area
  • closed pr list
    : party based electoral system
    : voters have no say in candidates
- ordered pr list
\: Chance for voters to have some influence on the order in which candidates are elected for the party, but it’s not an open system where they have complete control over the selection
- open pr list 
\: candidate and party based 
\: voters got more say
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14
Q

all about mmp and mmm

A

mmp: mixed member proportional
1. voters have 2 votes; 1 for party and 1 for candidate
2. can don’t vote from same party
3. party based on pr list, candidate to represent constituency based on smp
mmm: mixed member majoritarian
1. also 2 votes
2. some seats based on pr but it makes such a small impact
3. not so proportionate cos follows smp
4. mostly smp

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15
Q

how does largest remainder work?

A
  • hare quota, droop quota
  • central feature: electoral quota
  • counting process in 2 rounds
  • parties with votes exceeding quota are awarded seats. quota subtracted from total vote. parties left with greatest number of votes which is the largest remainder are given seats in order of vote size.
  • gives smaller parties a chance, more proportional
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16
Q

how does highest average work?

A
  • D’ hondt method, saint-lague method
  • no quota but have divisor
  • each parties vote are divided by a series of divisors to produce an average vote
  • party with highest average wins a seat
  • process continued until all seats are filled
17
Q

what are the factors that affect proportionality?

A
  • district magnitude
    : higher DM, more proportional
  • seat thresholds
    : the lower the seat thresholds, the lower the disproportionality (netherlands- 0.67, sweden-4%, denmark- 2%, poland- 5%, austria- 4%, greece-17%)
  • multi-tier districting
    : certain number of seat allocations are determined at a higher tier
    : produces result that is more proportional
    : one tier where people vote in a district, after the voting is done, another tier of seats allocated based on percentage of votes each party wins
  • seat allocation formulas
    : largest remainder and highest average
18
Q

additional terms

A

block voting
: voting in an election with n winners, each voter can only choose up to n candidates and n candidates with most votes win

limited votes
: reducing the number of votes a voter can cast- reduces chances for a large party yo have all its candidates elected, gives chance to smaller parties

cumulative votes
: can vote for more than one and can also express strong preference for an individual candidate

cube law
: how votes are translated into seats

adjustment transfer
: entails a certain fixed proportion of seats that are set aside and awarded to parties in appropriate numbers to compensate any shortfall

remainder transfer
: no fixed seats but also aims to compensate shortfall

19
Q

countries and their electoral systems

A

SMP: countries with british heritage; US, UK, Canada, India, New Zealand until 1993

TRS: france

AV: australia

GRC: Singapore

PR: south and central america, most of continental europe except france and UK

MMP: New Zealand, Germany

MMM: korea, japan, taiwan

20
Q

how does district magnitude determine electoral outcomes?

A

DM determines the proportionality of the electoral outcomes, higher dm means more proportional in PR system, but more disproportional in SMP.
- refers to the number of seats translated from votes

pol sci (10 decks)

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