Lec 6 - electoral systems Flashcards
What do electoral systems do?
electoral systems determine the party system!!!!
political parties
- organize the popular vote
- educate and inform the citizenry
- formulate policy
- recruit leaders for public office
Peter Mair believes that their function is to organize and stabilize
party system static vs. dynamic
has a static and a dynamic component
static: the number of parties in the legislature
the dynamic: their internal cohesion, the relationship with other parties and their propensity to conflict and cooperation
measuring stability
stability is measured by the number of governments or the number of premiers
stable vs. unstable systems
stable 2 party systems with low levels of internal cohesion: the U.S.
stable 3 party systems with higher degrees of cohesion: UK, Canada, Australia
unstable multiparty systems: Weimar Germany, Fourth Republic France, Postwar Italy
France today: transforming from a stable to unstable party system
why do electoral systems matter
electoral systems and the party systems aggregate democratic preferences and translate them into policy
both manage the democracy/ efficiency trade off
if the electoral system and the party system breakdown, the result can be instability, chaos, and coups
BUT an overly powerful party system can result in a democratic dictates opposed by a majority of the public
plurality systems
winner takes all FPTP
single member constituency
- the candidate with largest % of votes takes the seat. Canada, UK, US.
block vote
- FTPT with multimember districts (voters can cast as many votes as there are candidates; ones with a plurality win
party block vote
hybrid of the two systems
voters have a single vote in multimember districts, but they choose between party lists (the block of candidates) rather than individual representatives
party winning most votes take all the seats, and its entire list of candidates is elected
Djibouti, Lebanon, most representatives in singapore, and senegal
tend to increase disproportionality
party lists used in some cases (Lebanon) to ensure representation of religious/ethnic groups
advantages of plurality systems
simplicity for the voter
clear choice at elections thus producing majority governments
true in both single member constituency and block vote
disadvantages of plurality system
some votes count more so small parties get punished
when combined with the westminster model, it allows governments to introduce sweeping changes opposed by a majority of the public.
Margaret Thatcher (1979-1990)
launched monetarist experiment that devastated industry and led to mass unemployment
privatized whole sections of the economy
restricted union power
slashed taxes and cut spending for education, health, local government, and social support
uk went form one of the most equal societies in europe to one of the most unequal
with a coalition government this would have been impossible
proportional representation systems
are multiple but they attempt to convert votes more directly into seats
used in 50% of full democracies, particularly in western europe and latin america
raise the threshold to keep out extremist parties. in germany it is high. netherlands it is low
advantages of PR
votes are not waster and its more democratic
tends to moderate policies
encourages, indeed, requires cross party cooperation
disadvantages of PR
can lead to instability
allows extremist parties into the legislature
voters don’t know which government they are voting for
gives too much power to small parties, which play queenmaker and secure policies supported by only a minority of the public (ie the free democratic party in germany)
types of pr: single transferrable vote
goal: avoid wasted votes
voters rank their candidates as many or as few as they like
election requires reaching a quota based on the # of vaccancies and # of votes cast
once a candidate reaches the quota their extra votes are given to the next preferred candidate until they reach a quota, then to the next candidate until all votes are distributed
single transferrable vote advantages
most sophisticated system
captures ranking and intensity of preferences
maintains districts and representatives links with voters
influences the composition of coalitions
single transferrable votes disadvantages
complicated and requires degree of numeracy
other standard problems associated with PR
thomas HARE formula
way in which quota is calculated
total votes divided by total seats
if there are seats left over and no candidates reaches the quota, the candidate with the highest vote wins
produces higher proportionality
Henry DROOP formula
total votes divided by total seats + 1 + 1 overall
lower quota means that more candidates meet it
majority problem
D’Hondt Formula
uses a series of rounds to approach proportionality. some variation in practice. in northern ireland, it works as follows
total votes a party has (V) divided by the number of seats they hold at the beginning of the round (S) plus 1
S=0 at the first round, meaning the party with the most votes get the seat
at each round, the votes of the party that came out on top on the previous are subject to V(1+1)
the formula recalculated at each round until all seats are allocated
used by israel:
Israel’s electoral system is considered an “extreme” proportional representation model
Allows significant representation of diverse societal groups
Encourages multiparty coalition governments
Closed party list ( where there is no opportunity for voters to favor some candidates over other) voting where voters select entire party lists
PR list systems
parties nominate lists of candidates in multimember districts; voters cast ballots for one party list; and seats allocated according to the vote
mixed member proportional
bolivia, germany, hungary, italy, mexico, new zealand
voters has 2 votes, first is for the constituency MP (FTPT everywhere but Hungary, where it is a 2-ballot system)
second vote ensures proportionality
winner of first vote takes the seat
second determines seats in the legislature
advantages of MMP
high degree of proportionality
retains local MPs
disadvantages of MMP
hierarchy of votes: where second matters more than the first
creates 2 classes of MPs
encourages strategic voting
german system
first vote for the MP, second for the party
candidate with a plurality secures the seat
5% threshold eliminates smaller parties
Bundestag (german federal parliament) expands or contracts to ensure proportionality
party system: CDU first, AFD second highest seats… voters supporting the rights instead of the left-moving from one extreme to another
votes calculated by the Sainte Lague Formula
- each party’s total vote count is divided by a series of odd numbers: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9
- seats are distributed one by one to the party with the highest resulting quotient at each step
formula: Q= V/2s+1
Q: quotient
V: total votes recieved by the party
S: number of seats the party has already won
each time a party wins a seat, the denominater increases thus reducing its chances of winning the next seat unless it has many votes
factors affecting proportionality in PR
- threshold: higher the threshold the lower the proportionality
- district size or magnitude: the more members per constituency the higher the degree of proportionality (opposite of plurality systems)
- assembly size: the larger the assembly, the easier it is to achieve proportionality
majoritarian systems
as the name implies they ensure that the successful candidate has secured a majority of the vote
two main types: alternative and two-ballot
alternative vote
voters rank their preferences
candidate with absolute majority is immediately elected
if no majority candidate with lowest preference is eliminated and votes are distributed upwards until a majority is reached
aussie alt. vote
introduced to block the labour party
more recent fragmentation of the party system means that preference distribution matters more
alt vote adv
- encourages candidates to appeal to all voters to secure lower order preferences
- ensures majoritarianism and degree of proportionality
alt vote disadvantages
- complicated
- not as proportional as PR systems
2 ballot system
first vote is a simple multimember electoin; if a candidate secures a majority, they are elected
if not candidate has a majority, there is a second ballot a fortnight or so later
used in the election of the president of brazil, costa rica, ukraine, and france. top 2 candidates go ahead at the second ballot
popular in presidential elections: ukraine, costa rica, france, austria
used in legislators like iran and ukraine and uzbekistan
french legislutre: 12.5% threshold for moving on the second ballot. candidate with the largest vote at a second threshold is electe,d wehter a majority or not
adv of 2 ballot
ensure a majority preference
allows two-preferences
simpler than alt vote
useful for ideologically divided societies
disadvantages
punishes small parties in legilsative votes
france has traditionally had greater disporpotionality than any westenr european country
limited vote
gibralatar, spanish senate
multimember districts, fewer votes than there are seats available
winning candidates are those with the most votes (plurality)
favours smaller candidates but still high degree of disproportionality
single non-transferrable vote
jordan, kuwait, vanuatu
one vote in a multi seat constituency
candidates with highest totals win
the larger the district magnitude the higher the degree of proportionality
but still less than PR and requires complex voter calculations
conclusion
electoral systems create party systems
specifically: number of parties which in turn effect the propensity for consensual vs. conflictual government
pr systems tend to favor progressive and smaller parties. they are however created by politicians to pursue particular interests
de gaulle introduced the 2 ballot system to knock out smaller parties and increased the power of the executive
spain intrudced PR after Franco but used a fixed seat of 350 constituencies to achieve disproportionality
germany: 5% threshold was meant to be a check on extremism
australia: alt vote meant to punish labor
canada, UK: PR appeals when its opposition, it repels when in power
