Comparative Politics Final 12 05 2013 Chapter 13 Elections and Electoral Systems This chapter goes over Majoritarian and Proportional systems how they vote for people how many people they vote for and how they win Elections are the fundamental characteristics of all democratic governments And democracies are sometimes classified in terms of their electoral system An electoral system is a set of laws that regulate electoral competition between candidates parties or both Different types of electoral systems are based on their electoral formulas they use Electoral formulas determine how votes are turned into seats Majoritarian VS Proportional Majoritarian single member district plurality alternative vote two round system single non transferrable vote Borda count Proportional closed and open list PR single transferrable vote Types Majoritarian most votes wins Single Member District Plurality System AKA first past the post people cast single vote for candidate in single district Just need more votes than anyone else Advantages simple cheap one representative and greater responsibility easy identification and higher accountability incentives to perform well Disadvantages un representative outcomes because you only need more votes than everybody else it may not be a majority this can be disproportional favoring big parties Also encourages to vote strategically rather than what you believe in because you wanna vote for who has a realistic chance of winning Alternative Vote is a type of preferential voting Voters rank order the people they like on the ballet preference order Full preference rank everybody Optional rank just one If a candidate doesn t win absolute majority candidates with fewest votes are eliminated and votes redistributed until somebody has absolute majority Advantages only one rep means high responsibility and accountability Strong bonds as result between people and reps Less incentive for strategic voting but not all gone Incentivizes broad appeal to get 2nd votes as well Increased consent of voters makes those elected more legit because people kinda want them there Disadvantages complicated expensive Example So you rank people 1 2 3 Frank is 1 Jerry is 2 Wes is 3 Frank doesn t have enough votes and is eliminated so Jerry your second choice will get your vote Next round Jerry gets eliminated so your vote will go to 3rd choice Wes Two Round Systems candidates elected if they get certain number of votes in first round Then those with most votes in second round are elected Runoff If no candidate wins majority then top 2 compete in another runoff round Plurality if nobody has majority then those that have a certain number of votes contend in second round Advantages allows more choice and change of mind Less incentive to vote strategic Better for low education levels Candidate trys to appeal to everyone Disadvantages costs on administration and people voting twice drop off in turn out disproportional seats hurts minority representation Single Non Transferable Vote multi member everybody places one vote and multiple people are elected Advantages more proportional outcomes Disadvantages weaken parties by starting fights over seats strategic voting encourages clientelism and patronage Favors incumbent and well organized parties Because of no vote transfer there s no incentive to get everyone to like you in other parties Block Vote multi member voters have as many votes as seats needing to be filled Voters can use as many or as little votes as they like but it has to stay one per candidate Candidate with most votes wins Crazy disproportional outcomes Party Block Vote multi member same thing as block however voting is based on parties Party with most votes wins all the seats Can also be crazy disproportional In Djibouti each party is required to spice up ballot with different ethnicities so you gotta elect them if you re voting by party Found in page P 563 Types Proportional Representation PR Quota or division based in multi member districts Translate votes to seats proportionally Divided into using list and not List PR party receives list of candidates for each district and get seats proportional to share of votes List PR is different and special because Precise formula for allocation Quotas indicate number of votes that guarantees a party seat Calculated by Valid votes in district Number of seats available in district modifier n 5 Different types of quotas are based on different values of modifier n Hare n 0 Hagenbach Bischoff n 1 Imperiali n 2 Reinforced Imperiali n 3 Droop takes Hagenbach answer adds one and takes out the decimal These quotes will probably come out with decimals after Number before decimals is number of seats awarded and decimal places are remainders Largest remainder method If seats are not filled by non decimal whole numbers then the parties with largest remainders or decimals receive those extra seats Highest average method Divides votes by automatic seats obtained Allocates seats to the highest of those numbers Divisor or highest average system divides total number of votes by series of numbers to get quotients Highest quotients receive seats d Hondt divides by 1 2 3 4 5 Sainte Lague 1 3 5 7 9 Modified Sainte Lague begins with 1 4 On a chart this looks like a bunch of numbers next to Votes 1 votes 2 etc in a column on the left Just pick out the highest of those numbers in order District magnitude determines proportionality Is number of representatives elected in district Larger district magnitude means larger proportionality Can vary between districts Tiers level of votes translated into seats Low tier is closer to voters while high tier is lowers grouped together at national level Seeks better proportionality and representation Electoral threshold use stipulates minimum percentage party must win to gain representation Can be legally imposed formal or part of electoral system natural Formal introduced to reduce party fragmentation Party type Closed candidates elected by party itself voters have no preference of who takes seats Electoral formula decides who Advantages inclusive easy to discipline people wide representation Disadvantages party opinions may not reflect peoples Open voters can indicate preferred party and members Electoral formula determines who wins Less minority representation Less party discipline Free multiple votes to allocate in free party or across different parties Non List Single Transferable Vote only system that doesn t use list
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