UNIT 4 Flashcards
Electoral System
The system used to translate the votes that people cast into the composition of the legislature and the selection of the government.
Mixed Member Proportional Electoral System
This is an electoral system in which some legislators are elected to represent particular electoral districts based on gaining the most votes in that district, while other are elected based on the popular vote received by their party.
PR Electoral System
This is a electoral system in which the proportion of seats a party receives in the legislature reflects the proportion of votes it has obtained.
SMP Electoral System
An electoral system in which voters in each electoral district elect a single representative to the legislature. The candidate with the most votes is elected, even if that candidate did not receive most votes.
Single Transferable Vote Electoral System
This system sees voters rank their preferences for candidates in a multimember electoral district. Candidates who receive a certain proportion of the vote are declared elected. The second preference of a voter that is surplus to what that winning candidate needs is then transferred to that voter’s second-preference candidate. This process is then continued until all seats in the district are filled.
Delegate Model of Representation
Stresses the importance of the representative responding to the stated preferences of the represented. In this form of representation that representative represents those direct desires of the represented with little room for interpretation
Trustee Model of Representation
The trustee model of representation sees that the representative of a political community is entrusted with the power to attend and participate in the deliberative chambers of Parliament, where they can discuss issues of governance and make decisions in public interest.
Brokerage Party
A party that attempts to find compromises to accommodate a variety of interests ( particularly regional and ethnic/cultural divisions) so as to try and build broad support across the country in a non-ideological manner.
Electoral Professional party
A political party whose dominant concern is winning elections and that relies on professional experts to market the party to the voter base.
Personalistic Party
A party dominated by a powerful leader combined with a weak party organization that follows the wishes of the leader
Programmatic Party
A party that has a distinct ideological perspective or a coherent set of policy goals that are consistently followed over time.
Party Discipline
The expectation that members of each party will vote in accordance with the position that party has adopted in caucus
Constitutive Representation
This refers to legislators representing the interests, values, and identities of their constituents, shaping policies and laws accordingly.
Descriptive Representation
A term that indicates that representatives reflect the social composition of broader society
Formalistic Representation
A process oriented notion of representation, rooted in the assumption that representation and democracy require legislative bodies are authorized and held accountable by broader society through law and regular election
