Elections and Voting

Elections and Voting

1. Outline two functions of elections.

   • They are a means by which citizens can participate in society. In a representative democracy voting is a crucial link in the participative process
   • They function to provide a government. Following a General Election a government will be formed. In May 2010 the elections produced a coalition government.
   • They are a means of holding a resident government to account. In 1997 and to an extent in May 2010 the previous governments were rejected by a majority of the electorate.

2. Explain three advantages of the ‘first past the post’ electoral system.

   • It allows for a close constituency representation, providing a visible link between an individual and a region
   • It is a simple to use system causing little in the way of voter confusion. It is also swift to produce a constituency result.
   • Governments elected by FPTP are normally stable and cohesive, able to serve a full term, the recent Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition is an exception.
   • It is a system that brings strong government to power as usually one party can secure office and introduce its manifesto pledges

3. Make out a case in favour of the introduction of proportional representation for Westminster elections.

   • Proportional representation (PR) is a generic term which refers to a range of electoral systems which attempt to make a close correlation between the percentage votes that are cast to a corresponding percentage of seats allocated.
   • It can be said to increase participation as more people will vote knowing that their vote counts and will make a difference. On this basis elected representative and governments can increase their democratic legitimacy. It is alleged that participation rates may not rise but legitimacy credentials certainly will.
   • PR will improve the representation of parties excluded under FPTP currently at Westminster. A broader and more accurate range of parties increases democracy by allowing all shades of opinion some level of representation. Thresholds could be introduced to make the system effective and eliminate racist or other extremist parties.
   • Fair representation is well worth pursuing by introducing PR for Westminster. It is sensible to sacrifice strong government for accurate representation as a principle in its own right. Some coalition governments under PR can claim the support of at least 50% of the electorate.
   • Differing systems of PR all have certain alleged benefits and some may be more easily adopted for Westminster than others