UK Politics: Electoral systems Flashcards
What are the functions of the elections
Representation :
to choose a representative to speak on behalf of the community and to provide a link between them and those who make decisions.
MPs are said to be trustees meaning that they are trusted people who speak and vote as they see in the interests of the community but they are entitled to think independently.
It is complicated in West Minister because government positions are promised for loyalty to the party but the MP can be removed for neglecting the constituency at the next election
Choosing the government:
General elections are choosing a government grant to get legitimacy.
The majority winning party has the right to form a government bottom 2017 the Conservatives were 8 seats short of the majority which meant a informal agreement with the Democratic Unionist party.
Holding the government to account:
Usually every five years are government has to face the electorate at a general election in order to renew its mandate to Govan. Voters can reject an unpopular government.
Individual MPs can also be held accountable for their performance for example a number of MPs stood down after the abuse of Parliamentary expenses scandal in 2009, The recall of MPs act has strengthened the powers of the voters to remove MPs who have behaved poorly, If an MP is sentenced to prison or been suspended for more than 21 days
Participation:
Voting in an election is the obvious way ordinary people can take part in politics. Party manifestoes give information to the voters to make a judgement although many of the people do not ring them or they mistrust the promises politicians make.
No of seats in the house of commons
650 seats in the commons
What’s are the advantages of the first past the post system
speed and simplicity - very easy to use as people only need to know there first preference. The people will know the results by the morning after election day and the transfer of power is very is fast expect from the 2010 GE with took 5 days for a result. This would be the norm in a proportional system proven by the 2010 election in Belgium which took 18 months to form a government
strong and stable government - tends to promote a two party system, voters given a clear choice. Gives a clear majority to one party which then has the mandated program.Does not produce coalition governments as much as representative systems. Coalition governments are sometimes unstable and break up if the parties have fundamental disagreements.
Exclusion of extremists - parties with extreme views such as racism xenophobia are more likely to gain a foothold with representative system instead of first past the post
A strong link between MPs and the constituency - The small size of a first past the post constituency and that a single MP is responsible for representation
What’s are the disadvantages of the first past the post system
MPs and government can be elected on less than 50% of the vote - some MPs do not command majority support within the constituency because they do not need an overall majority of the votes cost but can win with one vote over their opponent. For example Kensington in the 2019 election had a majority of .34%. At a national level governments are elected on a minority of the popular vote the lowest being Tony Blair on 35.2% of the votes
The winner bonus - The winning party on the first past the post enjoyed the share of the seats in excess of the share of votes it receives. For example in the 2015 election the winners bonus was less marked with David Cameron only winning a 12 seater majority with 36.9% of the vote. The marginal seats are important as they can go either way so parties put resources into these constituencies
Limited vote of choice - limits the choice of the voters in several ways. A party only puts one member in each constituency so there is no views of factions in the party. safe seats mean that many voters have little hope of seeing the favourite candidate winning therefore increasing the voter apathy. This might cause people to tactically vote for parties that will oppose their least favourite party
Votes are of unequal value - smaller constituency votes you should account for more than it does in a larger one. For example it only took 9407 votes to elect the MP of Orkney and Shetland compare to 28,591 for the Isle of Wight empty
When did we try to change the election system and that was the result
As part of the Coalition agreement, the Liberal
Democrats were promised a referendum on replacing ‘first past the post’ with the Alternative Vote.
The referendum was defeated by 69% to 31%.
The only areas to say ‘yes’ were Oxford, Cambridge, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Durham, Camden, Lambeth, Southwark and Hackney.
Brighton said ‘no’ by just 200 votes. All of these areas have high
levels of academics, young people, students, Guardian readers and politically informed liberals. (Not surprisingly, nearly all of these areas also voted Remain in the EU Referendum as well).
How does the alternative vote Work
Voters rank candidates in order of choice. If on the first count, no candidate has reached more than 50% of the vote, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and their second preferences are
checked and then given to those candidates still in the race. If the second place candidate has already been eliminated, then the 3rd of 4th or 5th etc preference is checked and distributed instead.
This process continues until one candidate reaches 50%+.
The voting process in London the London mayoral election is called the Supplementary Vote
How does the single transferable vote work
Multi-member constituencies. Parties field the maximum number of candidates they think can get elected. Voters rank candidates in order of choice. First round votes are counted and then a quota set.
Number of votes
——————————- = Quota
Number of seats + 1
Although, more technical, the outcome is more proportional
Each of the parties has put up the number of candidates they think they can get elected. The quota to be elected is set. If no-one reaches the quota in the first round.
The lowest ranked candidate is eliminated and their voters votes are redistributed to the other candidates. The process will continue until 3 candidates are elected to fill the 3 seats.
Once candidates reach the quota, their surplus (number of votes they end up with, minus the quota) is then distributed down the list in a similar way to regular transfer votes.
If, after all the eliminations there is a seat left then the final seat may be filled by the candidate left with the most votes and they are deemed elected without reaching the quota.
How do people normally rank there other options after there first option?
Candidates from the same party will usually transfer to each other if another colleague is left in the contest. This depends on the individual voter and if they have chosen to do this.
If they have no colleagues left in the race, transfer votes tend to go to like-minded parties.
There are no hard and fast rules as to who eliminated candidates transfer to, voters can vote anyway they wish.
What are the advantages of the single transferable vote
There is a close correlation between the votes and seats
Voter choice is high it is possible to choose between candidates standing for the same party as well as between candidate from different parties
In Northern Ireland it has created a power-sharing government that enables representation of the unionists and the Nationalists working together
What are the disadvantages of the single transferable vote
Not fully proportional, where is smaller multimember constituencies are used
In large multimember constituencies the link between the member and the voters may be weak
Power-sharing government may bring rival groups together but they are still prone to conflict. For example corporation between the parties broke down again in 2017 triggering further elections in Ireland
what is the additional member system.
This system is used for elections to both the
Scottish and Welsh parliaments and the Greater London Assembly.
The voter has 2 votes: one is for a local member (elected by FPTP to a constituency), very simple, the other is a regional list party vote.
When the first lot of votes are counted, the local
members are all elected for their respective constituencies (the same as in a Westminster election).
Then, the second vote, the regional list party vote
is then calculated. In Scotland the voter just votes for a party on their ballot paper. The votes are then counted and seats are set
aside in the parliament and awarded to the parties proportionately
In this way, parties like the Greens and UKIP who might not have enough support to win any MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament) under the FPTP constituency system, will get a chance to have some members elected from the party list who will be able to sit in parliament
What does the numbers look like in the Scottish parliament under the additional member system
The Parliament comprises 129 members in total known as Members of the Scottish
Parliament (MSPs), elected for four-year terms under the additional member system:
73 MSPs represent individual geographical
constituencies elected by the first past the post system.
A further 56 are returned from eight additional member regions, each electing seven MSPs.
What are the advantages of the additional member system
The FPIP element allows a strong link between the members and the constituency
Introduces an proportional element to the FPTP part of the system ( Scottish conservatives got no seats in the 1997 Westminster elections under FPTP but the list system allowed 18 seats on the sottish parliament election in 1999 )
Electors have a wider choice than under FPTP, they can vote for a split ticket - showing support for 2 partys
how did European elections take place in the UK
We use the regional party list system to elect Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).
The whole country is divided into regions.
Each region has a certain amount of seats available.
Voters tick the party they wish to vote for on the
ballot.
Seats are then allocated proportionately to each party
in each region.
The parties each produce lists of candidates for each
region. Candidates ranked at the top of the list (e.g.
Nigel Farage in South East England) are elected first if
the party wins a high enough share of the vote to entitle it to seats in that region.
What are the disadvantages of the additional member system
It creates 2 different types of members - some with the constituency responsibility while the others don’t. Little evidence to show that the latter has less power.
Closed list system is used, means that the party leadership ranks candidates in order on the list. Can use this power to limit the chances of members of the party being elected
Smaller parties achieve less representation than under a full representatives system. Especially true in Wales
how does the London Mayoral elections work
The Mayor is elected using a version of the Alternative Vote, called the Supplementary Vote.
how does the supplementary vote work
Each voters is allowed a first and second preference vote
Any candidate that reaches the more than 50% of first preference votes is elected automatically
if this does not happen all candidate except the top 2 are eliminated. the second preference votes for these 2 candidates are now added to produce the winner
What are the advantages of the supplementary vote
It insures a broad support for the winner- Sadiq Khan elected mayor of London in 2016 has the largest personal mandate of any elected politician in British history
Simple and straightforward to use
Allowed some independent candidates to win for example 12 out of the 40 police and crime Commissioner were independent in the 2012 contest
What are the disadvantages of the supplementary vote
Winner does not need to have an absolute majority of the votes cast
Voters need to be able to identify the likely top two candidates in order to have an influence over the outcome of this is not always clear
how is the London assembly elected
Alongside the Mayoral elections which are held
every 4 years.
The Assembly comprises 25 members elected using the Additional Member System (like in the Scottish Parliament).
There are 14 constituencies each electing one member.
There are a further 11 members elected from
party lists to make the total members from each
party proportional to the votes cast for that party
across the whole of London. This is exactly like
the Scottish system.
What are the important facts about the EU referendum
51.9% leave and 48.1% remain
England leave by 53%. Scotland remain by 62%. Northern Ireland remain by 56%. Wales leave by 53%
London strongly remain with 59% as was most of the wealthier Home Counties commuter belt
Leave voters tended to be predominantly white, older and working-class. Remain voters mostly under 55 with many being university educated professionals and middle-class
Mostly strongly leave area such as Essex often had the fewest immigrants. Mostly strongly remain areas where the most diverse
What are some important facts about the Scottish independence referendum
Largest cities, Glasgow and Dundee voted yes, Edinburgh voted no
Poor working class areas were more likely to vote yes, a third of Labour voters voted yes
Rule areas and middle class area is tended to vote no
Shetland and orkney strongly voted now as they tend to distrust the Edinburgh Parliament
What is a referendum
A direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal
Why are referendums held
We have a tradition representative democracy in the UK as we elect MPs to make decisions on our behalf.
When the government feel that an issue is s important that it must ask the people for their opinions
Referendums are not legally binding and can be ignored by Parliament
When are referendums called
1) The government must seek to get the public to legitimise a controversial decision
2) A referendum might also work to get the government out of a difficult situation
3) it may be the result of a deal between political parties
4) it may be held in response to pressure
What are some historical referendums in the UK
1975, membership of the EU - criticism over wording of question, debate favourite government view
1997, devolution of Scotland and Wales – Labour had a manifesto commitment to devolution, no threshold required
1998, London mayor - positive test, low turnout (45%)
2011 alternative vote referendum. Defeated 67% to 33%
What are arguments for referendums
Referendums involve the people directly in making decisions - in a democracy the electorate has the right to be consulted, trust in politicians is low and many questions are too important to leave to them. In an election they decide on a broad list of policies while a referendum is only a single issue
Referendums raise voters Political awareness -for example in the Scottish referendum in 2014 a wide range of issues related to independence was debated during the campaign such as the independence of the economy, nuclear deterrent and membership of the EU for Scotland
The conduct of referendums have been subject to independent supervision by the electoral commission since 2000 - this reduces the chances that the results will be skewed by unfair influences because the expenditure of the competing side is limited and the wording of the referendum question is reviewed by an independent body
What are reasons against referendums
Referendums are a challenge on Parliamentary sovereignty -
Voters elected representatives to make decisions on their behalf as ordinary people like their expertise to make decisions on complex questions such as whether Britain should joined the euro
Governments choose whether or not to call referendums -
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown denied the people say on the Lisbon Treaty of 2007 which extended the process of European integration because previous governments didn’t hold votes on treaties. The opposition was outraged as the people did not have a say on handing over significant power to the European Union
The outcome of referendums can be influenced by factors nothing to do with the subject-
a way to protest against the government of the day for example the defeat of the alternative vote proposal in 2011 was affected by the unpopularity of the Lib Dems
What are referendums
A question to the electorate usually with just two responses.
Were not a feature of UK politics until the 1973 Northern Irish border referendum.
Used by the Labour government in 1975 in the first European
referendum.
Have been used more frequently since 1997.
Usually only held when there is a big constitutional issue at stake.
Advisory and not legally binding, although result unlikely to be
ignored by the government.
Regulated by the Electoral Commission.
Why has FPTP survived for Westminster elections?
Because the outcome it produces usually suits the interests of the two largest parties. For example the Labour Party offered a referendum before the 1997 on the first past the post but after they won a large majority they were not interested in delivering it
Voters except the first past the post system because it is familiar and easy to use proven by the May 2011 referendum
Why was AMS adopted for the Scottish and Welsh devolved assemblies and the Greater London Assembly?
As a result of labours policy of devolution.
The Liberal Democrats and SNP would have preferred single transferable vote for the Scottish parliament as they expected that Labour would sweep the board without a less proportional system
Chosen as a compromise between a non-representative system and a more radical system like single transferable vote because Labour could get seats using the first past the post part of the system and the smaller parties can get seats with the second votes
Later chosen for Wales where devolution weaker
Later adopted for the London assembly because it was already selected for Scotland and Wales and it broadly reflected the views capital and retained geographical representation
Why was STV adopted for the Northern Ireland Assembly?
Chosen for Northern Ireland after the 1998 good Friday agreement because it was highly representative, likely to ensure the broadest possible representation of different parties
This was important because of the conflict between the Unionist and nationalist communities in Northern Ireland and it was important to avoid single party domination that could break the peace process therefore both sides would share the responsibility of government
The Republic of Ireland was already using the system
Why was SV used to choose elected mayors?
Because it was simpler to use.
Because only the top two candidates after first preference had been counted would make it through to the final round therefore removing little positive support candidates
What has been the impact of the electoral system
on the government or type of government
appointed?
Coalition governments and new voting systems: FPTP usually results in majority governments at Westminster (with the exceptions of 2010 and 2017) and the use of AMS has led to coalitions or minority governments in the devolved assemblies (with the exception of 2011 when a majority SNP government was elected in Scotland, or 2003
when a majority Labour government was elected in Wales).
More compromises – e.g. situation in Northern Ireland.
Policy- Used the devolved powers to differentiate themselves in terms of policy from what happens at Westminster
Scottish Labour liberal democrat coalition decided that university students in Scotland would not pay tuition fees and elderly people would receive free nursing care
In both Scotland and Wales prescription charges were abolished
