Electoral Systems- First-Past-The-Post (plurality system) Flashcards
Majority government
One party is in power and enjoys a majority of seats in the House of Commons.
Hung parliament
Occurs when no party has a majority of seats; either a minority government or a coalition government is formed.
Coalition government
Where two or more parties are in power. While no party enjoys a majority of seats on their own, combining the seats of the parties in power gives them a majority of seats overall.
Minority government
One party makes up the government, but it does not have a majority of seats. It often governs by making deals with other parties to support it on key votes, which is what the Conservatives did with the DUP between 2017 and 2019.
Such deals are called ‘confidence and supply’ arrangements.
Safe seat
A constituency where one party is so dominant that it is almost unthinkable that it will not win the seat at every election.
Marginal seat
A constituency where more than one party has a realistic chance of winning the seat at an election and the outcome of the election is likely to be close.
Winner’s bonus
First-past-the-post tends to reward those parties whose votes are highly concentrated and efficient, winning just enough votes in each constituency to win multiple seats. This phenomenon leads to the largest party having a disproportionate seat share compared to their national share of the vote.
Tactical voting
When voters choose a candidate who might not have been their preferred choice in order to keep the candidate they least like from winning.
Plurality
A term used to describe ‘the most votes’. If a candidate receives a plurality then they have won more votes than any other candidate. That does not mean that they have received an ‘absolute majority, which is what happens when a candidate wins 50%+ of the vote. Under FPTP, a winning candidate only requires a plurality of the vote, not an absolute majority.
First-past-the-post
The electoral system used in UK general elections; the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins a seat in the House of Commons.
The main features of FPTP:
+ The country is divided into constituencies.
+ Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP).
+ Each party can nominate only one candidate to stand for election in each
constituency.
+ Voters have only one vote each and they choose their candidate by marking an X next to their favoured candidate’s name.
+ The winner of the election
is the candidate who wins more votes than any other candidate. This is known as a plurality.
+ The winner does not require an absolute majority (50%+) of the votes cast.
+ This system is used for elections to the Westminster Parliament.
The outcomes of FPTP include:
+ Many seats are safe seats, which means that the same party wins the seat at every election and there is no realistic possibility that any other party could win the seat.
+ Only a minority of seats are marginal seats, which are seats where more than one party has a chance of winning
+ The winning party often wins enough seats to govern on its own with a clear mandate; it tends to produce ‘strong government’. However, the 2010 and 2017 general elections did not produce this sort of result.
+ It discriminates in favour of parties whose vote is highly concentrated in one area (if a party’s vote is ‘efficient’). This phenomenon allows the winning party to enjoy a winner’s bonus.
+ It discriminates against parties whose vote is thinly spread throughout the country (those who secure only a few votes in each constituency).
+ Voters are more likely to engage in tactical voting.
+FPTP is therefore associated with a two-party system.
Advantages of FPTP
- usually a clear single winner
-close constituency
-accountability clear
-prevents extremist parties
-reflects regional differences
-simple choice
Advantages of FPTP
- usually a clear single winner
-example
FPTP usually produces a single clear winner that can form a majority government, with a clear mandate to govern.
Example: the Conservative Party won a commanding majority at the 2019 general election, winning a mandate to ‘get Brexit done’.
Advantages of FPTP
-close constituency
-example
It produces one single representative for each constituency and so creates a close constituency-MP bond, with MPs gaining a reputation for standing up for constituents.
Example: in 2019, Jess Phillips MP stood outside a school in her Birmingham Yardley constituency to defend teachers who taught primary school children about LGBTQ+ relationships.
