Electoral Systems Flashcards
What are the differnt electoral systems used across the Uk ?
General elections: FPTP
Scottish Parliamentry elections: AMS
Wales: AMS
London Parliament: AMs
NI: STV
EU: AV
london mayor: SV
police commisioner: SV
What are the subcatorgories for the type sof electoral systems and witch do each syste fit into
majoriterian: whom every gets 50% +1 wins
* SV
plurality: whom ever gets the most votes wins
* FPTP
Porportinal: the makup of controle will ruffly represent the proportion of the vote
* AMS
* STV
* (AV)
what are the official purposes of elections
(3)
- Holding the current elected represenatives to account
- chosing good goevernemnt and elected represenatives
- legitimising political power
How does FPTP work
- The Candidate to get the most votes wins the consituancy in a winenr takes all race in single member consituancies
- The part with a majority of the vote can then form a governemt
Explain the negative effects of FPTP
**A two party system **
* FPTP is a winner takes all sysytem, menaing someone can win with asmall minority of the vote.
* This means that the winnign parties are the ones that can consentrate support over lage geographical areas rather that having board general support. (Tactical voting)
1. for exmaple Belfast South Alasdair McDonnel won with only 24.5% of the vote.
* false mandate a governing on a lack of a majority (i.e. most people dint want them in power)
* This is bad as it results in lack of voter choise, forcing people to vote for the least bad candidate and often giving then a false mandate
* However, before Brexit and covid we saw the rise of minority parties
1. 2015 SNP 56/59 scotish seats up from 11 in 2010
2. Libdem 2005 62 seats and 2010 57
**Winners Bonnus **
* Beause labour and conservtaive are able to consetrate their support over a wider area, they are able to take whoel seats with just a plurality of the vote. Therefore they are overrewarded
* creates a disprportional rsult and a false mandate for goverment o act with
1. in 2015 the Conservatives gained 37% AND 51% of the seats.
1. in 2015 Ukip got 12.6% of vote but only 1.8% of the seats
* This allows for the government to make dessisions more easily but it also supresses minority voices
**Safe seats and swing seats/ Vote inequality **
1. There are certain swing seats that could go either way in an election and there a persons vote counts for alot more than in a safe seat where votes are arguably wasted
2. For example The cotswold will always vote Torry and and leeds north will always vote labour VS swing seats like NESS that coukd be libdem or Conservative
3. 2019 we saw the fall of the redwall With labour safe seats such as heartly pool turning blue
What are teh benifits of FPTP
**Strong single party governemtn **
* because of the winners Bonus offten results in a majority allowign for things to get done when they need to get done
* more important recently with covid and Brexit
1. Thatcher 1983 144 majority, Blair 1987 179 majority or recently Borris 80 seat majority
* less the case we get a majority in recent years
1. 2015 coallsion and 2019 DUP aliance
**MP consituent links **
* each consituency knows their MP, and can comunicate with them through emails letter and even organise meetings.
* this allows for MPs to better represent to polulations views
1. for example i know jacod rees-mogg is the MP for NESS
* however to an extent, now mayors take on this local role to a large degree (as increase since 1998)
Simplicity
* simpel so people undertand how the goverment is desided and through voting they confim tehy are happy to have government selected via this method
centalsit policy
* as FPTP results in a two party system both parties are offten trying to taget the centre groud with their policies inorder to catch swing voters
1. Blair and Major 1997 and Cameron and edmillaband 2010 (socially)
2. we also have seen centralist policies in Borri’s leveling up and The marrage act 2013 as well as the extenive public speming during covid
3. However, Corbin and Liz truss and austerity
Simple
Explain AMS
- Voters cast two votes, a vote for a local candidate and a regeinal party
- The local candidate votes for the smaller constituencies are then added up and the candiate with the most votes wins, similar to FPTP
- However for the regainal votes, the equation numbre of regainal votes/ numbre of seats won in parliament +1 is uses is used
- They are multi candiate reigns so the candiates are selected from whom ever party has the highest scores, and within each party they use a list system
- this puts the winning party at a disadvantage, counteirgn the winners bonus they got from the local elction results, over all making the parliament more proportional
Give an example of AMS working well
in 2016 the SNP won 47% of the local votes and 59% but beause of this they therefore won only 4 seats regainally where they won 42% of the vote
What are the Advantages of AMS
still allows for local andidates with consituent links **
** Proportional representaion
1. In 2021 the SNP won 45% of the over all vote (regainally and consituency), and 50% of the seats comapre to in 2015 when the conservatives won 37% of the vote and 50% of the seats
** split tiket voting **
* as peopel are aware that samller partie swould be but at an inbuilt disdavantage they do not ahve to vote tactikley but instead tey can vote for teh candidate tehy truely want
1. for example, in scotland , in 2021 the green party won 1.3% of the consituency vote but 8.1% of the regianal so ove, (giving them 8 seats overall, allowing them to for a coallion with the SNP)
** a government with broad populaity **
* beause of the discriminantory Reginal vote it means taht for a party to achieve a majority is is much a harder. Thsi means that if they do, teh goverment will have to have a mass of wide spred popularity
* this gives the governemnt a strong democratic madate for dession making
1. for exampel The SNP in 2011 when thy formed their first single part gov and again in 2016
2. rare, in wales there has never been a non coallion governement
In 2021 how many votes did the green part win in teh regainal vote vs the consituency vote in scotalnd? and hoe many seats did this give them ?
consituency: 1% consitituency and 8% reginal giving them 8 seats
in 2021 what % of the toal vote did the SNP get int he scotish parliamentry elections Vs % of the seats
45% of the overall vote and 50% of the seats
what are the disadvantages of AMS
(3)
unlikly single party governemnt
* in scotland only 2 non coallison govermets 2011 and 2016
* in wales non
* however perhaps this fosters consensus and bipartizan ship = more unamiously favorable dession making, that will be more popular amungs the whole population
1. plus advantage in NI with sinn fein and DUP
complicated
* complicates legitamacy of result
* possibly drecreses tuenout as people are unsure of how it works
1. tuenout has rarely been above 60% andas low as 40%
**Both rounds are indervidually flawed **
* reganal allows for partys to deside the candidates from a lsit with no public imput on the person
* undemocratic
* the first round of the consituent vote has the same issues as FPTP
Expalin STV
- NI is devide into 18 lareg muti member regions
- the voter is given a ballot paper and lists the candidates inorder of their faourabillity
- a “drop Quota si then worked out, this is = (the total numbre of valid votes cast/ the numbre of seats available in teh reigein+1) +1
- the first votes are then counted
- any candiate who imediattly serpasses the drop quota get a seat
- then the exess votes of these candidates are then discarded and teh second votes are counted
- from here the bottom candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed
- continues till all seats are filed
where is STV used
NI
how does one workout the drop quota for STV
= (the total numbre of valid votes cast/ the numbre of seats available in teh region+1) +1
