Other electoral systems Flashcards

1
Q

What 3 things does STV do?

A
  • improves voter choice
  • achieves clear proportionality
  • eliminates wasted votes
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2
Q

What is a multi-member constituency?

A

larger constituencies which return a number of representatives to an elected legislature

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3
Q

What are 2 negatives of STV?

A
  • takes a long time to finalise results

- lack of intelligibility could undermine confidence in the system

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4
Q

What are the details of the 2011 Northern Irish Assembly which resulted in more proportional electoral outcome?

A

Sinn Fein secured 27% of seats

DUP won 35% of seats

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5
Q

What did academics from London and Essex find happened to the number of seats won by Labour in the 1997 general election using a range of 8,000 voters using STV?

A

The model suggested Labour would have had a majority of 25 under STV rather than the 179 won under FPTP

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6
Q

What type of voting occurs under a Hybrid system?

A

AMS , Additional Member System

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7
Q

What is the purpose of a Hybrid system? (3)

A
  • To retain the strong MP-constituency link
  • majority government
  • More voter choice
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8
Q

What are 3 examples of hybrid systems?

A
  • Additional member system (AMS)
  • FPTP TU
  • Alternate vote plus (AV+)
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9
Q

Where is the hybrid system of AMS used?

A

Germany

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10
Q

What is AMS? (2)

A

50% of seats are elected under FPTP
-remainder are distributed proportionately but is a 5% threshold which parties much cross before they are entitled to a seat

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11
Q

Where is FPTP-TU used in UK? (3)

A

Scottish Parliament
Welsh Assembly
Greater London Authority

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12
Q

Who proposed the AV+ hybrid system ?

A

Jenkins Commission

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13
Q

What do some people argue the system of AMS could result in?

A

a two-class system of representatives

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14
Q

What is an advantage of the system AMS?

A

It tends to result in a more stable government

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15
Q

What was the outcome of the Labour-Liberal Democratic coalition formed in Scotland from 1999 to 2007?

A
  • introduced free long-term nursing care for the elderly
  • abolished top-up fees
  • introduced a more effective Freedom of Information Act
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16
Q

What is the majoritarian SV system used for in the UK?

A

to elect the London mayor and many other directly elected mayors across the UK

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17
Q

What majoritarian system is not used in the UK?

A

AV system

18
Q

How are list systems based?

A

they are party based more than candidate based

19
Q

Why are list systems more party based than candidate based?

A

this is because voters express a preference for a party rather than a candidate

20
Q

What system is used in elections to the European Parliament?

A

A regional list system

21
Q

What could be a result of a regional list system?

A

could lead to some parties being under or over represented in relation to their share of the popular vote

22
Q

What does an open list system allow voters to choose between?

A

allows voters to choose between a given party’s candidates rather than simply voting for the party and letting the party hierarchy decide the order of candidates

23
Q

What is an advantage of an open list system?

A

it increases voter choice

24
Q

What are thresholds?

A

a threshold is a percentage of the vote that a party must secure before it wins any seats under a list system

25
Q

What do thresholds sacrifice?

A

they sacrifice a little proportionality in favour of more stable government

26
Q

Under what list system are the elections to the European Parliament under since 1999?

A

under a closed regional list system

27
Q

How does the 2009 UK elections to the European Parliament demonstrate the way in which parties who would be unlikely to win seats under FPTP can prosper under a more proportional system? (3)

A

UKIP won 13 seats
Greens won 2 MEP’s
BNP won 2 MEP’s

28
Q

What would a pure proportional system with an open national list and no threshold result in?

A

far more parties being represented in the HOC and no single party having an overall majority

29
Q

According to the Essex model, how many seats would Labour have lost in 1997 if the election had been through a pure proportional system?

A

would have lost 89 seats , short of an overall majority

30
Q

What type of system is SV?

A

a majoritarian system

31
Q

How does the SV preferential system work?

A

Voters rank candidates in order of preference, if no candidate receives more than 50% of first preferences all but the top two candidates are eliminated with their votes transferred to second preference

32
Q

How is AV similar to SV? (2)

A
  • they both employ preferential voting

- both systems allow a candidate to win outright whee they can secure over 50% of first preferences

33
Q

How do AV and SV differ?

A

they differ on what happens when no single candidate has an absolute majority of first preferences.

  • Under SV the votes of all but the top two are transferred on the basis of their second preference
  • Under AV, candidates would be eliminated one by one from the bottom with votes being transferred until one of the remaining candidates was able to secure an absolute majority
34
Q

What are the 3 advantageous effects of the SV system?

A

1) reinforces the wining candidates personal mandate
2) reduces wasted votes
3) increases voter choice

35
Q

What does SV stand for?

A

supplementary vote

36
Q

What are the 4 observations that can be made of the Sv system?

A

1) the centre-left is favoured
2) convention tactical voting is reduced
3) the winning candidate under Sv may still not command 50% of the popular vote
4) voters have to use guess work

37
Q

How, under the SV system is the centre-left favoured?

A

as this allows Labour voters to select lib gems as a second preference and vice versa

38
Q

What party does SV undermine the chances of success?

A

the Conservative Party

39
Q

How, under the SV system is conventional tactical voting reduced?

A

because voters have the benefit of a second preference

40
Q

How might the winning candidate under SV still not command 50% of the popular vote?

A

because the ballots of eliminated candidates will only be transferred if their second preference were in favour of the two remaining candidates

41
Q

Which official Labour candidate was eliminated after the first preferences in the first London mayoral contest in 2000 due to voters having to use guess work in the SV system?

A

Frank Dobson

42
Q

Which system did the Electoral Reform Society originally favour ?

A

use of AV system