electoral systems Flashcards
what is the purpose of elections?
hold the current electives to account - parties are normally in power for a 5 year term and this ensures that their are consequences for the actions that an elective representative makes - they can be voted out - ensures clear communication between officials and voters as ensuring the voters are happy is the only way to get re-elccted
choosing an elected representative and government - voters choose politcians who represent their views - parties will campaign with their manifesto and policies so by winning the election they have a mandate for change
Legitimising political power - a governement formed of free and fair elections is legitimate meaning they have the right to excercise power. they can introduce a new policy it has the right as it won an election.
however if the turnout is too low the election result will not not accurately represent peoples views and so is not legitimate
also essential to legitmacy is competition - most be people for voters to choose from
the coalition of 2015 could be legitimate as they had an overall majority of 59% but on the other hand niether party won therefore undermining legitmiacy
limiting the power of elective representatives - not only do they legitimise government but they also limit it. the limit is that they will face re-election
development of political policy - most parties publish a manifesto which outlines the policies
public opinion also shapes these - during the 2017 general election the conservative party advanced a policy which wld require people to sell their homes to pay for social care in old age but this was dubbed the ‘dementia tax’ by the opposition so they abandoned it during the election campaign showing public influence
selection of political elite - once elected representatives are chosen some of these will be chosen in the formation of the government - responible for the smooth running of the country
what is FPTP
First Past the Post
a plurality a system - doesnt need a majority just more votes than everyone else -
likely to produce a two party system
the uk is split into 650 constituencies - containing around 70,000 people - each one is represented by one seat held by a single MP - single member constituencies
the candidate with the most votes wins the seats
advantages of FPTP
simplicity - just putting an X in the box of the candidate they want - encourage turnout as its easy to understand - increases legitimacy
by taking part in the election they are expressing consent to use FPTP as a method
strong government - provides clear legitimate winner - the winners bonus tends to over reward the winning party eg in 1997 labour gained 43% of national vote but 63% of the seats and in 2015 the conservatives gained 37% of the votes but 51% of the seats.
a party with a parliemtary majority therefore provides them with a mandate to fulfil its manifesto
a majority also means they can pass legislation
MP constituency link - each are has a local MP to reprsent them in parliament - this means that mps has clear accountablity to their constitency. they ften hold surgeries to keep in touch with their constituents. MPs want to please their constituents in order to ensure relection
centrist policies- encourages a 2 party system due to it being a plurality based system ‘winner takes all’.
the 2 main parties cover the basis of the political ground so majority of people are represented so therfore keeps extremists parties out
Disadvantages of FPTP
Lack of voter choice- as its aimple there is a winner takes all system - which means the only real choice for voters is labour and conservatives as they are realisticly the only parties who would get the most votes
This could lead to less turnout or people voting tatically so undermines legitimacy
tactical voting - voting for the least bad rather then who they want
also causes websites like vote swaps so people culd swap votes depending on how safe there constitency is
unequal vote value - to achieve this strobg single party governemnt there is a winner takes all so votes are of unequal value due to safe and swing seats
however safe seats can change - 1979 bristol west was a conservative safe seat but since 1997 it has been won by both lib dems and labour
unequal vote value undermines the democratic principle of one vote one person
a lack of a majority - only required to have a plurality - most elected representatives will not have a majority
in northern ireland alasdair mcdonnell in 2016 achieved only 24.5% of the vote but still won the seat
favours paries with concentrated support
1997 labpur got 43% of national vote but 63% of the seats and in 2015 conservatives got 37% of the vote but 51% of the seats - this does not seem democratic
undermines legitimacy
under representation in parliament
disproportionate result - over represents main parties - excludes smaller parties
reduces voters choice
not what nation believes
in UKIP got 4 million votes but only 1 seat while the SNP got 1.5 million votes but 56 seats
theres an increase in safe seats - in 2015 there were 21 and in 2017 35
also a jump in swing seats which shows the inequality
failure to produce strong government - minority and coalition government
What is AMS
Additional member system
is a proportional
used in scottish parliemnt and welsh assembly
gives voters 2 votes to cast - one for voters local representative and one for their regional representative
constituency vote is same as fptp then a regional vote used to correcrt some of fptp problems is done more proportionally
parties that do bad in first part have a chance to do well in second eg conservatives do bad in first part in scotland but the second part allows them to do better
advantages of AMS
proportional result - the more seats a party gets in the constituency vote, the more difficult it is in the regional vote as its votes will be divided by a higher number
this reduces wasted votes and ensures more parties are represented
split ticket voting- they can choose to excercise votes for 2 different parties so they have more choice
encoureages more parties to run
different to FPTP where they only really have 2 parties - tatical voting
a government with broad popularity - in order to form a strong single party governemnt a party must have broad popularity not just in concentrated pockets like in fptp
increases likelyhood of coalitions but this means more parties can have an input on policies therefore increaing legitimacy
unlike FPTP where the winners often have less than half of the support
greater representation - all areas are represented by a constituency and regional representative - more chnace that voters have someone who they share the same views with - potenially increasing turnout
Disadvantages of AMS
More complicated - although process of voting is simple what happens next is not - puts voters off as they may feel there vote is mathematically manipulated - may reduce turnout
an unlikely single-party government - as its more proportional single party governments are harder to achieve - coalitions are more likely meaning they are weaker and less able to pass legislation
the first round - done like FPTP so carries same disadvantages in the first vote
different types of representatives - theres 2 tiers a constitutional and regional MP - this can cause confusion and blur accountability
party control - the party control order of the list of candidates - could be argued this gives excessive power to party leaders
likely to result in a coalition government however in scotland the SNP did win an outright majority in 2011 but all other governemnts in scotland and wales have been coalition or minority
safe seats and swing seats still a feature of the constitency vote but not regional
what is STV
single transferable vote
used in elections for the northern irish assembly
allows for ordinal voting - ranking candidates in order of preferance
to get a seat they party needs to achieve the ‘droop quota’
advantages of STV
Proportional result - most proportional system used within the Uk - close correlation between the percentage of vote cast and the percentage of seats gained - increases legitimacy of the result
voter choice - lots of choice between parties but also within parties
greater representation - multi member constituencies mean a voter is likely to have some elected who shares there beliefs
Disadvantages of STV
More complicated - like AMS although the process of voting is simple what happens next is note - people may feel there vote is mathematically manipulated - reduce turnout therefore reducing legitimacy
an unlikely single-pary government - in NI the good friday agreement means there has to be a coalition governemnt. however even if this wasnt the case the proportional nature means a coalition government is likely which wld be weaker
no constituency link - with no local elected representatives as in FPTP and AMS and large multi member constituencies - the link between elected representatives and there area is weaker
What is SV
supplementary vote
majoritarian system
followed by a referendum in 1998 it is now used in london govenor elections
voters vote for their top 2 choices - all of first choice ballots are counted and if a party has a majorty they win the election but if no one does all but the top 2 candidates are eliminated, the second choices of the people who voted for the eliminated party are looked at ad redistrubuted
in 2016 the london mayor elction saw a turnout of just 45%.
if voters choose to express no Second preference or if there second choice is eliminated their influence is reduced
Advantages of SV
majority result - ensures that the winning candidate has a clear majority of the votes - increases legitimacy while still keeping extremist parties out. creates strong single party government
voter choice - more choice than FPTP - knowing they can vote for a smaller party as there first choice but there second choice to ensure there vote is not wasted
simple system - unlike proportional systems sv is easy to understanding in how votes are cast and how they are counted
Disadvantages of SV
Two party dominance - the elimination of all but 2 candidates in one go means that third parties are unlikely to do well and the result is not proportional.
this might encourage a tatical use of second choice to avoid a wasted vote - could idscorage turnout
a false majority - only need to get a majority of the valid votes meaning the votes that count.
in the second round of the vote a with no second preference or those whose second choice is eliminated is not counted meaning the winner might not have a true majority
wasted votes - large number of votes which have little or no impact on the outcome of the election like FPTP
what is the impact of new election systems on governments ?
greater number of coalitions or minorities in the regions using proportional systems - although tainted by how NI has to have coalition because of the good friday agrrement
scotland and Wales have achieved majorities and coalitions under AMS
what is the impact of using other election systems on parties and party systems?
number of parties successfully competing has increased in elections and within government as a result of new proportional systems
