LECTURE 6: ELECTORAL SYSTEMS FOR LEGISLATURES

LECTURE 6: ELECTORAL SYSTEMS FOR LEGISLATURES

1. Elections

   • Elections are mechanisms for choosing who is to represent the electorate in the legislature
     • May also decide which political party/parties forms executive
   • Electoral systems are based on variations of 2 electoral principles
     • Non-Proportional
     • Proportional Representation
     • Choice of electoral system determined by two considerations
       • Accurately reflect range of opinions/interests in society E.G. 36% of vote = 36% of seats
       • A system that favours strong and stable government E.G. Only number of seats won important, not number of votes
     • Other considerations
       • Influenced by many factors, history, context and political culture
       • Who is allowed to vote?
         • E.G. Prisoners, Homeless
       • What serves interests of political class?
         • Political class against electoral reform - against their own interests
       • Can people cope with a complicated system?
       • How important is it to have small constituencies?
         • E.G. Smaller areas get to know their MP more personally
       • How politically stable is the country?
         • Has UK been stable for so long because of the electoral system? Or would it be stable anyway?
       • Are there diverse identities or regions?

2. Non-proportional systems

   • Simplest to organise and easiest for electorate
   • Elects a known individual for relatively small part of country, a constituency
   • Candidate who gets most votes gets the seat, others get nothing
     • No attempt to represent range of public opinion in Parliament - no proportionality
   • 2 variants of the system
     • Plurality (First Past the Post)
       • One round of voting, candidate with largest number of votes wins
       • Found in Britain and some of it's ex-colonies E.G. Canada, India
       • Advantage is even if vote in each constituency is very close, leading party wins a large majority
       • Constituencies are small, produce one MP
       • System means millions of votes are 'wasted'
       • Gives rise to strong single party government
         • Makes it easier to pass legislation in Parliament
     • Majoritarian System
       • 2 round system used in France
       • Parties with more than 12.5% of the vote from registered voters go to 2nd round
         • 'Losers' negotiate in return for support
           • E.G. Socialist party may negotiate with Communist party in return for their vote
       • Losing or small parties can influence policies in return for support
       • Winner of 2nd round will always have a majority support of those who voted

3. Proportional Systems

   • Reflects levels of support for parties rather than territorial loyalties
   • In its purest form, 40% vote = 40% seats
   • Still tends to favour larger parties, but not as much as non-proportional methods
   • Rare for a single party to get a majority, tends to lead a coalition governments
   • Purest form can make forming a government very difficult
   • Variations of Proportional Systems
     • List System - Most common
       • Voter chooses a parties list of candidates
         • Number of votes received by list decides how many names on list get a seat
           • E.G. List receives 30% of vote, its gets 30% of 100 seats; seats for first 30 people on list
       • Little connection between voter and elected members
       • If the list is open, leadership might not get the MP's it wanted
       • Some countries E.G.Portugal, parties operate a closed list I.E. Party leadership only allow their chosen candidates on list
       • May be modified by voters expressing a preference for candidates
   • Factors affecting Proportional Representation
     • % threshold a party has to cross E.G. 5% of national vote
     • Number of areas country is divided into for elections
       • Fewer areas = Less proportional and representative, doesn't reflect regional or town differences
     • How many MP's can each district return? Many members - even small votes may return an MP
       • Spain only has 7 members per district - Less proportional
         • Allowed Socialists to win power with 40% of the vote

4. Strong stable government of proportionality?

   • How important is it that each voter should feel their votes count?
   • How does it affect public perception of democracy?
   • What are the implications for democracy of each system?