Party Systems and Electoral Systems Flashcards
What are cleavages?
Major divisions in society that grew out if historic conflicts. They’re issue dimensions; the more issue dimensions, the more parties there are
What are the 3 types of electoral systems?
- Majority
- Proportional
- Mixed
What are the 3 types of plurality/majority systems?
- Single member plurality (First Past the Post)
- Block vote (Top 2 or 3 elected - seeing who has the most)
- Supplementary vote (Voters give 2 preferences and choose between 2 elected city mayors)
What are the 3 types of proportional systems?
- Party list: European Parliament seats (vote for party)
- Single Transferrable Vote (STV) - Northern Ireland Assembly & councils (preferential voting - rank candidates in order of preference)
- Mixed Member Proportional/Additional Member System (MMP) - Use 2 votes (1 for the candidate and 1 for the party list). Members are elected in 2 different ways but proportional representation used overall
What is the First Past the Post system?
Candidate with the most votes is representative of their constituency (obtain the seat). Small parties with local support can obtain seats but won’t win on a national level; usually beaten by the 2 big parties. Can result in a high level of disproportionality (e.g. 2005 election)
What is the Supplementary Vote (SV)?
Allowed a first and a second choice (similar to alternative vote where preference is given)
What is D’Hondt?
Divide each party’s total by the number of seats in the sequences. The seats go to the party with the largest quotient at each stage. A version used for Scottish parliament; those at the top of the list are elected. Will go down the list (e.g. Person 2 elected if person 1 is unavailable).
Which body is dominant and what is it supported by?
• The executive (government) is dominant and is supported by the legislature (majority in the House of Commons)
What does liberal democracy propose?
Elections should be free from corruption and should be based on the public vote
They state decisions should be made without force however if force is necessary it may be used in certain circumstances
What does the Rule of Law state?
All citizens should be treated equally (links to the use of force as it should be used within a network of rules and procedures)
What 2 things does pluralism state?
The existence of various groups within society (e.g. Charities) is healthy
Believe public participation should be maximised
What does democratic elitists argue?
That politicians are elite as they represent a group of people but have the necessary qualifications to do so
Why do economists believe liberal democracy is the best system?
Because countries which trade freely are more likely to be on peaceful terms; ensures international peace. The free market is the most ideal as demonstrated by the collapse of the Soviet Union
Define governance
Decision making by multiple people in a network
Give 3 problems with the government to governance approach
- Governance suggests that power is more distributed, however this isn’t the case (e.g. Blair tried to interfere with the election of the First Minister of Wales)
- Westminster politicians have become more determined to push through their proposals due to the emergence of governance. By losing authority in some areas, Westminster has tried to compensate by extending its power in others
- Governance has resulted in diminished responsibility of ministers (less accountable)
