Transcript Lecture 4 - Madasafish

Lecture Four
Elections and
Electoral
Systems
Why are elections important?
Participation
Accountability
Legitimacy
From elections to governments
Electoral
system translates
votes into seats
Government formation
rules change seats into
executive positions
ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
PLURALITY
Single-Member Constituencies
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION
Multi-member Constituencies
First-past-the-post
Britain
List system
Netherlands
Supplementary Vote (2nd Ballot)
France
Single Transferable Vote
Republic of Ireland
Alternative Vote
Australia
Additional Member System
Germany
First past the post
Country
divided into 659 singlemember constituencies
Voters choose one candidate only
The winner is the candidate with
the largest minority
A very simple and clear system
How Britain voted in 1997
419
179
165
46
19
10
Cons
Labour
Libs
SNP/ PC
Others
Lab Maj
Supplementary vote
Country
divided into singlemember constituencies
Voters choose one candidate
All candidates passing a threshold
go forward to a second ballot the
following week
Tends to produce a broad leftright contest
How Britain would have voted in
1997 under SUPPLEMENTARY voting
436
213
84
110
10
19
Cons
Labour
Libs
SNP/ PC
Others
Lab Maj
Alternative vote
 Country
divided into single-member
constituencies
 Voters rank candidates... 1, 2, 3, ... etc
 Any candidate over 50% first preferences
wins
 If no candidate over 50%, lowest
candidate eliminated and their 2nd
preferences reallocated, and so on...
How Britain would have voted in
1997 under ALTERNATIVE voting
436
213
84
19
110
10
Cons
Labour
Libs
SNP/ PC
Others
Lab Maj
Advantages of plurality
Straightforward
Accountable
No
post-election bargaining
Strong governments
Discourages extremists
Supplementary and Alternative
convey information on preferences
Disadvantages of plurality
 Disproportional!
Strong winner’s bonus.
 Unrepresentative
 No
say in choice of party candidates
 Excludes minorities
 Encourages tactical voting
 Wastes votes
 Encourages apathy in non-marginal seats
Proportional representation
The
allocation of seats in the
legislature in proportion to the
votes cast for the party in the
election
Requires multi-member
constituencies
PR: List system
Country
divided into a number of
multi-member constituencies
Voters vote for a political party
Complex formulae translate votes
to seats
MPs drawn from a Party List
How Britain would have voted in
1997 under a PR LIST system
Cons
Labour
Libs
SNP/ PC
Others
Lab Maj
285
202
110
46
18
-89
PR: STV system
Country
divided into a
number of multi-member
constituencies
Voters rank candidates
Often more than one candidate
from the same party
PR: STV system
Calculate
“Droop quota”
Droop Quota = Votes /
(Number seats + 1)
Any candidates passing the
Droop quota are elected
PR: STV system
Successful
candidates’ “surplus
votes” are transferred to other
candidates
Continues until all positions filled
If no candidate can pass the Droop
Quota, lowest candidate
eliminated and their votes
transferred.
How Britain would have voted in
1997 under a PR STV system
342
131
144
24
25
18
Cons
Labour
Libs
SNP/ PC
Others
Lab Maj
PR: AMS
Country
divided into single- and
multi- member constituencies
Single-member candidates chosen
on plurality basis
Multi-member candidates chosen
on a list basis
Weighting varies (eg Germany,
Italy)
How Britain would have voted in
1997 under a PR AMS system
303
115
203
20
18
-27
Cons
Labour
Libs
SNP/ PC
Others
Lab Maj
Advantages of PR
Creates
a proportional and
representative legislature
Communicates more information
to leaders
Increases parties’ sensitivity to
electorate
Increases minority representation
Advantages of PR
List
- facilitates party control and
strong government
STV - allows candidate choice
within parties and conveys a lot of
information
AMS - keeps constituency link
and ensures proportionality
Disadvantages of PR
Multi-member
system blurs
accountability and makes
government remote
Government dependent on
vociferous minorities
Minorities can be extremists
Coalition formation
Disadvantages of PR
 List
- party control not necessarily
beneficial to democracy
 STV - requires small (therefore
disproportional) constituencies for
choices to be meaningful; stress on
candidates undermines government
effectiveness
 AMS - two classes of MP - blurs
accountability
Electoral reform in UK
Scotland/
Wales - AMS
European elections - List
Local Government - London
Mayor
Electoral reform in UK
 “Plant Commission” recommended
electoral reform
 Agreement with Liberals to move ahead on
reform
 Establishment of Jenkins Commission
 Referendum for Westminster elections
promised
 AV-plus outcome
 Devolved Assemblies and European
Elections
Conclusion
British system seen by many to be
antiquated, yet it retains key
supporters who stress
accountability and governability.
Reform in second-order elections
will be achieved more easily than
at Westminster