ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

PURPOSE OF ELECTIONS
1. DIRECT DEMOCRACY
  1. public vote on decisions that impact government directly
  2. used in eu referendum
  3. encourages participation
  4. can cause apathy
  5. public aren't qualified to make decisions
2. REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
  1. vote on a representative to make decisions in parliament on behalf of the public
  2. public only vote on the decisions that matter
TYPES OF ELECTIONS
1. GENERAL
  1. vote for an mp to represent them
  2. has the highest turnout
2. REGIONAL
  1. vote for representative as an assembly
  2. some parties control certain regions
3. LOCAL
  1. vote for a city, county or parish councils
  2. doesn't really impact us
4. EUROPEAN
  1. mep's in european parliament
  2. tent not to get involved
5. BY ELECTION
  1. when a sitting representative dies or resigns
PLURALITY VOTING SYSTEMS
1. first past the post (FPTP)
2. country broken up into constituencies and candidates with a plurality of votes win it
3. ADVANTAGES
  1. simple and straightforward
  2. good constituency link
  3. party gains winners bonus
  4. accurate representation
4. DISADVANTAGES
  1. doesn't represent smaller parties
  2. only 18% of votes count
  3. rewards a plurality with a majority
MAJORITARIAN VOTING SYSTEMS
1. AV
  1. candidate must achieve 50% of the vote
  2. ranked in order of preference
  3. if no one gets majority, lowest one is eliminated and votes redistributed

Resource summary

	Created by Livvy Bridges over 7 years ago