Proportional Systems Flashcards
What are proportional systems? What do they produce? - Electoral Systems
Proportional systems are electoral systems whereby a party’s share of legislature seats is closely aligned to their share of the vote.
How does AMS work at a local level? - Electoral Systems
At local level, AMS uses FPTP to elect its representatives, with the candidate winning the largest share of a vote in a constituency winning a seat in the legislature.
How does AMS work at a regional level? - Electoral Systems
Voters cast an extra vote for a party at a regional level, with these votes then scaled up or down by the D’Hondt formula to produce an overall proportional result by allocating a certain number of regional representatives to sit in the legislature.
How does AMS work OVERALL? - Electoral Systems
AMS provides voters with 2 votes (one local, one regional) in order to produce a more proportional electoral result. If a party overly dominates based on FPTP in individual constituencies without mass popular support, their regional votes will be reduced by the D’Hondt Formula to create a proportional outcome.
How are representatives chosen at a regional level in AMS? - Electoral Systems
Regional representatives in AMS are chosen by parties on Regional Party Lists, with parties selecting representatives to fill the given number of seats which they have been allocated by the D’Hondt formula.
Why is AMS used in Scotland and Wales? - Electoral Systems
AMS is used in Scotland and Wales to allow parties not traditionally successful in national elections to prosper even without FPTP downgrading their seats within their respective legislatures.
What are advantages of AMS? - Electoral Systems
AMS corrects the issues of FPTP in marginalising smaller parties, formulates a more proportional political system, reduces the number of wasted votes and increases representation, provides voters with more choice due to their ability to cast 2 votes, means that a multi party government requires consensus politics.
What are disadvantages of AMS? - Electoral Systems
AMS is a very complicated system as it involves 2 votes and a formula, reduces the likelihood of a single party government, creates 2 tiers of representatives at local and regional level (regional reps tend to be involved in government), parties control who represents them at regional level.
What was the result of the 2021 Scottish Parliament election? (REGION/CONSTITUENCY SEATS) - Electoral Systems
The 2021 Scottish Parliament election saw the SNP win 64 seats/129, falling 1 seat short of a majority. 2 of these were regional seats, with 62 constituencies.
What was the result of the 2021 Welsh Assembly election? (REGIONAL/CONSTITUENCY SEATS) - Electoral Systems
The 2021 Welsh Assembly election saw Labour win 30 seats out of 60, exactly half of those available. 3 of these were regional votes, and 27 were constituencies.
Overall, how effective is AMS? - Electoral Systems
Overall, I believe AMS to be significantly effective, as it produces more proportional legislatures to the share of the vote that parties receive, as well as delivering a large governing party. It also encourages consensus politics. It increases representation of citizens, whilst maintaining constituency representation.
What was the SNP’s % of the popular vote at constituency and regional level? How does this translate to their share of seats won?
The SNP won 47% of constituency votes and 40% of regional votes. This translated into 49% of the overall vote.
How does STV work? - Electoral Systems
Voters rank candidates based on preference on their ballot paper, with a quota calculated in each constituency based on number of ballots cast. If a candidate achieves the quota on first preference, they win a seat. If not, the lowest ranking candidates are eliminated and their votes redistributed, with this process repeated until candidates achieve the quota.
How are STV constituencies different from FPTP constituencies? What are advantages and disadvantages of this? - Electoral Systems
STV constituencies are multi-member constituencies, electing multiple representatives from different parties. This can mean that people feel represented in their constituency as they are likely to have a representative they voted for, but the link between voters and representatives is weakened by the large constituency size.
What type of party system and government do STV result in? - Electoral Systems
STV results in a multi-party system with a government which involves power sharing and a coalition due to the highly proportional nature of this electoral system.
