Votes, Elections, Legislatures, and Legistrators

Question 1

What are the two voting paradoxes?

Answer 1

1. Because states have a big number of citizens, no individual vote will rule the favor to the available options.
2. It’s hard to rely on votes to determine the preference of people.

Question 2

Why can voting be seen as irrational?

Answer 2

Because of the Voting Paradox in which one individual vote won’t make a difference in the outcome.

Question 3

What is the “ Arrow Impossibility Theorem”?

Answer 3

If you ask people to choose between three or more alternatives, you can’t tell which is preferred unless it gets more than 50% of the votes.

Question 4

What are elections?

Answer 4

They are a method of assessing people’s preferences through votes.;

Question 5

What are pros and cons of Single Member District?

Answer 5

Pros:
1. It is simple
2. It can produce a politically stable system
3. It encourage the participation of citizens
Cons”
1. it does not represent minorities
2. It results in a number of “wasted votes” as some people vote for candidates who have no chance of winning
3. Duverger’s Law

Question 6

What are pros and cons of Proportional Representation?

Answer 6

Pros:
1. Reflects a wide range of opinions
2. No "wasted" votes
2. Small parties are represented
Cons:
1. Leads to an unstable political system
2. Small parties have veto power
3. Fragmentation
4. Coalition

Question 7

How does Proportional Representation?

Answer 7

Parties gain seats in proportion to the number of votes they got.

Question 8

Which countries use SMD and which use PR?

Answer 8

SMD: US, UK, Canada
PR: Netherland, Brazi;