Paper 1: Electoral Systems

Question 1

What are the functions of elections?

Answer 1

Representation
Choosing a government 
Holding government to account
Encourage participation
Give people influence over policy

Question 2

What is the criteria for deciding which is the best electoral system?

Answer 2

Which:
Gives a fair result as far as possible
Gives a choice of candidates
Has an effective link between the elected representative and the constituency
Gives a strong govt. that can pass laws but can be held accountable by electorate

Question 3

What are the sizes of constituencies regulated by?

Answer 3

Regulated by an independent Boundary Commission which recommends periodic changes based on movements of population

Question 4

How many constituencies are there in the UK?

Answer 4

650

Question 5

Advantages of FPTP: Speed and simplicity

Answer 5

V. easy to use, result usually known morning after polling day and new govt. rapidly formed

Question 6

Advantages of FPTP: Strong and stable government

Answer 6

Tends to promote two-party system, giving voters clear choice and majority and can be removed at next general election, occasionally produces coalition govts. but normally produces a clear majority

Question 7

Advantages of FPTP: Exclusion of extremists

Answer 7

Although there’s a lack of representation of smaller parties, this is good when these parties are extremists as they are much less likely to gain a foothold

Question 8

Advantages of FPTP: Strong link between MPs and they constituencies

Answer 8

Most constituencies are small and a single MP is responsible for them and hold surgeries

Question 9

Disadvantages of FPTP: MPs and governments can be elected on less than 50% of the vote

Answer 9

More than 1/2 of MPs typically don’t receive majority vote, just at least 1 more than the second place candidate

Question 10

Disadvantages of FPTP: Lack of proportionality

Answer 10

It exaggerates the results and doesn’t reflect that the no. of ppl voting for the two largest parties are in decline

Question 11

Disadvantages of FPTP: Winner’s bonus

Answer 11

Winning party gets a share of seats in excess to amount of votes it receives if a larger no. of seats are marginal between the two main parties

Question 12

Disadvantages of FPTP: Limited voter choice

Answer 12

Party only puts 1 candidate forward so no representation of different views within a party

Question 13

Disadvantage of FPTP: Votes are of unequal value

Answer 13

In small constituencies a vote counts for more than it would in a large one
74.4% of votes cast in 2015 election were wasted

Question 14

What is an electoral desert?

Answer 14

A region of the country that contains many safe seats e.g large areas in the south of England

Question 15

What is a marginal seat?

Answer 15

One held with a small majority e.g a 10% margin would need a swing of 5% to the rival party to take it
Turnout tends to be higher here

Question 16

How many marginal seats were there in the 2017 general election

Answer 16

97/650 constituencies won by a margin of 5% of the vote or less

Question 17

What is an electoral system?

Answer 17

A system that converts votes in an election into seats. May also refer to a process of electing a single leader, such as a president or mayor

Question 18

Example of FPTP giving exaggerated number of seats

Answer 18

1997 Labour won 43% of votes and 63% of seats
2005 Labour won 35% of votes and 55% of seats
2010 Lib Dems won 23% of vote and 8.8% of seats

Question 19

What’s a majoritarian system?

Answer 19

Winning candidate needs to secure an absolute majority (50% + 1)

Question 20

What’s a plurality system?

Answer 20

The winner needs one more vote than their rival (FPTP)

Question 21

What is a mixed system?

Answer 21

Combines plurality + PR. Some MPs are elected using FPTP whereas the rest are elected using PR

Question 22

How odes Alternative Vote (AV) work?

Answer 22

You rank the candidate in order of preference, can select as many or few as you want
If candidate wins more than 50% of the vote they win
If nobody gets over 50%, last place candidate is eliminated and their votes are equally distributed between remaining candidates
This continues until someone has over 50% of the vote

Question 23

Advantages of Alternative Vote

Answer 23

Reduces need for tactical voting
Reduces no. of safe seats
More likely to produce candidate with more support

Question 24

Disadvantages of Alternative Vote

Answer 24

Can in some circumstances create more disproportional outcomes than FPTP
Prone to spoiling ballot as ppl may just rank in order written on the list

Question 25

How does Additional Member System work?

Answer 25

Mixture of FPTP and party lists
2 ballot papers, 1st a list of candidates where voter puts cross next to chosen candidate, like FPTP
2nd a list of parties who want seats in parliament, a vote for a party is a vote to make more of their list of candidates into MPs

Question 26

Advantages of AMS

Answer 26

More proportional and better reflects publics view
Maintains link between constituency and MPS because very person in Scotland has 8 MSPs who represent them
Enables minority parties to have a say in Scottish parliament

Question 27

Disadvantages of AMS

Answer 27

Can be confusing as 2 votes and each MSP has different roles
Time consuming and expensive, with complexity comes cost and its harder to count
Produces coalition or minority govts. as may not produce clear winner

Question 28

Why has FPTP survived for Westminster elections?

Answer 28

Mainly because the outcome suits the two largest parties

Voters accept it because it’s easy to use

Question 29

Why was AMS adopted for Welsh and Scottish devolved elections and for the Greater London Assembly?

Answer 29

Lib Dems and SNP would’ve preferred STV for Scottish Parliament but AMS was seen as a compromise and less radical that STV
Then adopted for Wales and Greater London Assembly for similar reasons

Question 30

Why was STV adopted for Northern Ireland assembly?

Answer 30

After 1998 Good Friday agreement as its highly proportional + ensures broad representation so important to avoid single party dominance

Question 31

How are referendums different to elections?

Answer 31

Referendum offers simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ choice with one of them being implemented
An election inc. several political programmes whereas referendums on one feature on a single issue
Election grants mandate to a new govt. whereas due to parliamentary sovereignty results of referendum don’t have to be carried out
Simple majority is needed for referendum outcome

Question 32

Examples of local referendums

Answer 32

Establishing directly elected mayors
Congestion charges, rejected
Council tax increases
Parish polls

Question 33

Examples of factors affecting national referendums

Answer 33

Constitutional change
Coalition agreement
Party management
Political pressure

Question 34

Impact referendums had on UK political life

Answer 34

Direct democracy
Constitutional convention
Parliamentary sovereignty and representative democracy

Question 35

Have referendums enhanced representative democracy in the UK? Yes:

Answer 35

Have introduced direct democracy
Checked power of govt. making it more responsive to wishers of the people
Enhanced political participation
Educated people on key issues
Legitimised important constitutional changes

Question 36

Have referendums enhanced representative democracy in the UK? No:

Answer 36

Undermined representative democracy taking complex decision making into the inexperienced public’s hand
Created tensions between parliament and people
Turnout in referendums is poor with decisions made on minority of voters
Referendum campaigns are often ill-informed

Question 37

What are some negatives of referendums?

Answer 37

Lead to simplification of very complex issues, tricking ppl into thinking they’re simple issues
Lack of education on issues can cause ppl to vote for whatever
Referendums are a majoritarian form of voting so minorities lose out
Could be seen as only called when the govt. want to avoid making difficult decisions