L5 - Electoral Systems Flashcards
What are the reasons for studying electoral systems ?
- Their involvement in major political battles/discussions (waves of democratization).
- Their involvement in major and partial (attempted) reforms in already existing democracies.
- The major consequences they hold for the political system
What did Giovanni Sartori (1968) say about electoral systems?
“Electoral Sytsems is the most specific manipulative instrument of politics”
What are aims of Electoral Systems
Aims: There are several criteria/aims in judging an electoral system that follow the debate: which is the best system and why? They include:
1) Proportionality - ‘How proportional the electoral system is?’ : Is there a close correspondence between [the divisions in society among voters] and [the composition of the parliament]
–> Parliament should reflect the divisions in society
2) Effectiveness - ‘How effective is the electoral system in making a clear / coherent / stable government?’:
–> The electoral system should create a clearly structured body of representation that is able to generate a clear sense of political leadership
3) Simplicity - ‘How understandable is the electoral system to the voter?’
–> The electoral system should make clear to voters how they can elect someone
3) Responsiveness - ‘How responsive is the electoral system to voters?’:
–> The electoral system is perceived to be responsive when it creates a direct link between [voters] and [representatives]
Do the voters know who/where their MPs are?
Can a country’s electoral systems reunite all of these aims/priniciples? (YES OR NO)
NO.
Designing an electoral system includes trade-offs between these principles! (Not possible to have an electoral systems with all of theses reunited)
Small parties favour proportionality.
➔ Large parties favor effectiveness.
➔ Minority parties favor proportionality and responsiveness.
What is the distinct’s majoritarian vs. proportional representation systems.
Electoral systems:
1) Majoritarian Electoral System: Single member district (M = 1) –> Winner takes it all.
(ex: France)
2) Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Multi-member districts (M = 1+) –> Seats allocated in proportion to the votes
(ex: Netherlands)
What are Electoral System Types
- Plurality Systems
- Majority Systems
- Proportional Representation (PR) Systems
- Mixed Systems
What are the characteristics of Plurality System
- Voters vote for individual candidates
- To win: The candidate needs to have more than any other candidates - majority . (Winner takes it all) - Ensures responsiveness and prefers effectiveness.
- Ex: USA, UK, Canada, India, Botswana
What are the characteristics of Majority Systems
- Voters vote for individual candidates
- To Win: The candidate needs to have 50% +1 (a majority) - Winner takes it all
If NO candidates receive a majority, the two major ones proceed to a second round.
- Advantages here are that a winning candidate always has a majority and that parties/candidates can form coalitions in the second round.
Ex: France, Australia
What are the characteristics of Proportional Representation (PR) systems ?
Multi-member districts (M=1+), where seats are allocated in a proportion to the votes received.
–> %Votes = %Seats
(ex: If a party receives 40% of the votes, they will receive approximately 40% of the seats in the legislature)
➔ Voters vote for:
◆ Party lists (e.g.Netherlands)
OR
◆ Candidates(e.g.Ireland)
Ex: Netherlands,Belgium, Czech Republic, South Africa
What are Varieties of PR Systems?
- Degrees of choice of candidates.
➔ Closed lists: voters vote fora party, NO choice among different candidates of a party (simply accept the list).
➔ (Semi-)open-lists: Within the party-list, a choice can be made for particular candidates.
➔ Completely open list: voters vote for individual
candidates, choosing one or more, with election based on a complicated calculation (e.g. single transferable vote). - Level of threshold applied to enter the parliament: Determines the minimum percentage of votes a party or candidate needs to win in order to gain representation in the legislative body.
➔ A higher threshold can limit the number of parties or candidates represented. ➔ A lower threshold can encourage more diverse representation.
- District magnitude (The size of electoral districts): Refers to the number of seats available in each electoral district. The larger the district, the more proportional the election outcomes are.
- Formulas for seat allocation: Determine how seats are allocated to parties or candidates based on the proportion of votes received.
What are the characteristics of Mixed Systems
Voters vote for individual candidates and party lists (e.g. Japan, Thailand).
➔ A combination of PR and plurality districts.
➔ Voters vote for a party and a candidate.
What are consequences of Plurality & Majority systems?
Plurality and majority electoral systems lead to disproportionality and underrepresentation of minority groups but ensure a stable party system and single-party governments.
What are the consequences of Proportional Representation (PR) systems?
Proportional Representation (PR) electoral systems lead to high levels of proportionality and better minority representation but are associated with party system fragmentation and government instability.
What are consequences of electoral systems:
- Proportionality: Aim to allocate legislative seats in a way that is proportional to the percentage of votes received by each political party.
However, it is often disproportional of electoral results ; 80% of ppl voted for someone who was not on the list
Gallagher Index: Measures an electoral system’s relative disproportionality between votes received and seats allotted in a legislature.
- Party system: Majoritarian electoral system ➔ 2 party system
- Minority representation:
➔ A PR system often leads to more representation of minority groups.
What’s the Duverger Law (Party System)
- Is it really a law?
Mechanical effects: eliminate small parties & minorities
Psychological effects: effects on voter during elections
- Suffer or influence by the mechanical effects of the voting system and start voting strategically.
- Due to people adopting their votes it compounds to mechanical effects which lead to psychological effects
Duverger Law is NOT a law - because:
- Unkown cause & effect
- Mechanical effects (how it translate the seat) & psychological effects also work for PR electoral systems
- Majority system where small parties do get elected and not drowned out
