Electoral Systems AMS Flashcards
INTRO
Additional Member System (AMS) is a voting system used to elect MSPs to the Scottish Parliament. AMS combine both FPTP to elect constituency MSs and Proportional Representation to elect Regional MSPs. The system gives you two votes, the first for the 73 constituency MSPs, the second to elect 7 MSPs in each of the eight regions in Scotland.
1P
It can be argued that AMS is a more representative voting system as it provides broader representation as the electorate have two votes.
1E
This means they can chose a mixture of parties and it gives smaller parties a chance to win seats in elections.
1E
For example the Greens gained a seat in Glasgow because of these two votes, whereas otherwise in other systems they would not have a seat there.
1A
This shows that the system has the ability to promote smaller parties and allow theme to compete. It is clear that the system is more representative as it means that people who vote for minor parties votes still count.
1R
However, many argue that the system is too complicated, confusing Scottish voters.
1E
This means that because of the two votes, lots of people make mistakes when filling out the ballot.
1E
For example, it was found that in 2007 there were a massive 142,000 rejected ballots in the Scottish election.
1A
This demonstrates that the voting system can lead to less accurate and credible elections as so many peoples votes do not count.
1L
It is clear that the voting system can actually be less representative as so many people’s votes are not valid.
2P
AMS can be seen as beneficial because it often creates coalition governments.
2E
This means that the system creates a more representative government as it will be made up of parties from different ends of the political spectrum, meaning one party cannot force its opinions, as the two or more in charge must work together.
2E
For example, the 1999 and 2003 elections created coalition governments that were crucial in passing many important laws in scotland, such as the smoking ban.
2A
This shows that coalition governments in Scotland are able to succeed and work well together. It is clear that this system can aid in producing a government that is representative of a large group of Scottish voters.
2R
On the other hand, many see coalition governments as a disadvantage.
2E
This is because no one actually votes for a coalition government on their ballot, meaning the government in power were not elected in that capacity, and so as a result are not representative.
2E
For example, no one voted for the Labour - Liberal democrat coalition between 1999 and 2007, and the 2007-11 SNP minority government was unsuccessful in passing some of its key policies, such as the minimum pricing for alcohol.
2A
This demonstrates that this system can produce governments that are unable to keep promises to the people that voted for them because of a lack of majority, and is therefore unrepresentative.
2L
It is clear that AMS can actually produce an unrepresentative government.
3P
Many argue for AMS because of the more proportional electoral results that system produces.
3E
This means because it employs both proportional representation and First Past the Post, it is able to produce electoral results that more accurately reflect the number of people voting for each party.
3E
For example, in 2011, the SP won 45.4% of the vote and this translated to 53.4% of the seats in parliament a far more proportional outcome than the 2015
General Election, which used FPTP, and gave UKIP just one seat, despite them winning nearly 13% of the vote.
3A
It is clear from this that AMS is very successful in producing more representative election results. This demonstrates that the implementation of the system in scotland has lead to more representative results in voting in scottish elections, than in General elections.
3R
Despite this, many argue that AMS actually gives smaller parties too much power.
