Electoral Systems Flashcards
First Past the Post (FPTP)
Involves getting more votes than a rival. Used in UK general elections
Advantages of FPTP
Simple
Clear outcome
Strong, stable and responsible government - Tony Blair carried out constitutional reforms after an election win of 418 seats in 1997, average constituency size 72,000 in UK
Effective representation
Keeps out extremists
Disadvantages of FPTP
Disproportional - votes don’t transfer into seats -> SNP won 1.8m votes in 2015 winning 56 seats, UKIP had 1.8m but won 1 seat
Safe seats - Thersea May’s constituency in Maidenhead won over 60% of the vote in 2017 for Tories
Plurality over majority
Votes of unequal value
Limited choice
Single transferable vote (STV)
6 seats in each constituency
Each party puts as much candidates as seats
Voters rank each candidate from 1 to 3
All 1st preferences are counted -> anyone over quota wins
2nd preference is counted and added to other candidates
Process continues until 6 candidates achieve quota
Quota = i.e.e if 50,000 people vote, the quota is 50,000/(6+1) =7143
Advantage of STV
Broadly proportional -> less wastec votes
Gives wide choice - in 2017 Nothern Ireland Assembly election, DUP had 3 candidates and Alliance had 2 candidates standing in the Belfast East constituency
Helps smaller parties
Disadvantage of STV
Counting is complex
System is complex
Helps elect extremist parties
Donkey voting - people vote in order candidates are on paper
Additional Members System (AMS)
Combines FPTP and proportional representation.
Everyone has 2 votes - One for constituency, one for country. This achieves:
- Preserved idea of constituency
- Produces more proportional results than FPTP
Where is AMS used?
Scotland (73 memebers elected via FPTP while 56 seats are filled by using list members. The 56 allocated accross 8 regions so 7 per region), Wales & the Greater London Assembly
Advantages of AMS
Fair to all parties
Gives voters more choice - ‘Split ticket’ - support an MP from one party and use their party list vote to support a different party
Conserve constituency representation
Helps smaller parties
Disadvantages of AMS
Complex
Elects extremists candidate
Not fair to smaller parties - In Wales, a small number of top-up seats which favour Labour party
Party decides who is on party lists and in what order the candidates are
Supplementary vote (SV)
A single candidate is elected. Voters have 2 choices -> whoever gets 50% of the votes win
If no one gets 50% the 2nd choice is counted and added to the first choice.
What is SV used for?
City Mayors
Advantages of SV
Winning candidate has a majority - Sadiq Kahn won 56.8% of the total vote for the 2016 London Mayor election
Relatively simple
1st and 2nd is relevant
Encourages positive campaigning as 2nd vote is valuable
Disadvantages of SV
Winner may not have 1st choice majority
Winning candidate may be 2nd choice
Wasted votes if your top two candidates are eliminated i.e. in 2012 London mayor election 15% wasted in R1, 7% in R2
What is a referendum?
National, regional or local vote, where voters are asked a single question and the answer is yes or no. Not legally binding but no government would go against it
