CPO 2002 FINAL EXAM Chapter 13 Elections and Electoral Systems Classifying Democracies Elections are the fundamental characteristics of all democratic governments Democracies are sometimes classified in terms of the electoral system that they employ An electoral system is a set of laws that regulate electoral competition between o Candidates o o Both Parties Political scientists typically distinguish between electoral systems based on the electoral formula that they employ Electoral Systems An electoral formula determines how votes are translated into seats Majoritarian Electoral Systems The main dimension along which electoral systems are divided is between majoritarian and proportional systems o Majoritarian system single member district plurality alternative vote two round system single non transferrable vote Borda count o Proportional closed and open list PR single transferrable vote A block vote multi member is one in which the candidates or parties that receive the most votes win An absolute majority is the option that wins the support of all voters SMDP Systems single member district A single member district plurality system is one in which individuals cast a single for a candidate in a SMDP Systems Advantages Relative simplicity they are easy to explain to voters and easy for them to understand They are easy to administer and relatively low in cost Only on representative is elected in each district which means that responsibility for what happens in the district lies squarely with that person It makes it easy for voters to identify who is responsible for policies in their district and therefore to hold them accountable in the next election By making it easier for voters to hold reps accountable the systems create incentives for representatives to perform well in office Disadvantages They have the potential to produce unrepresentative outcomes which means that candidates can win without obtaining a majority of the votes Produces unrepresentative outcomes because it is entirely possible for a party that wins a significant percentage of the overall national vote to obtain very few legislative seats because it fails to come first in many constituencies Encourages strategic voting Can encourage the creation of ethnic or clan based parties in countries in which ethnic groups and clans are regionally concentrated Election Results from the Corby Constituency UK Legislative Elections 2010 Candidate Louise Bagshawe Phil Hope Portia Wilson Party Conservatives Labour Liberal Democrats Votes 22 886 20 935 7 834 Percentage 42 2 38 6 14 5 Roy Davies British National Party 2 525 3 6 Alternative Vote A second type of majoritarian voting is the preference voting which is a system of preferential voting Preference voting involves voters ranking one or more candidates or parties in order of preference on the ballots The alternative vote is used in single member districts it is an electoral system in which voters mark their preferences by rank ordering the candidates If no candidate wins an absolute majority then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and her votes are reallocated until one candidate has an absolute majority of the valid votes remaining Candidate Stan Gibbs Neville Newell Gavin Baillie Alan Sims Ian Paterson Dudley Legget Charles Blunt Helen Caldicott no 4 346 18 423 187 1 032 445 279 28 357 16 072 Richmond Constituency New South Wales Australia 1990 Third Count First Count 6 3 26 7 0 3 1 5 0 6 0 4 40 9 23 3 Second Count no 6 3 4 380 18 467 26 7 1 053 480 294 28 274 16 091 1 5 0 7 0 4 41 0 23 3 no 4 420 18 484 1 059 530 28 303 16 237 6 4 26 8 1 5 0 8 41 0 23 5 Fourth Count no 6 5 4 504 18 544 26 9 1 116 1 6 28 416 41 22 Alternative Voting Systems Disadvantages Allows candidates to win who do not obtain majority support because candidates are eliminated one at a time until one has an overall majority It is rather complicated From the point of view of the voters it requires a reasonable degree of literacy and numeracy from the point of view of the authorities the counting process can be costly and drawn out Advantages Easy for voters to identify who is responsible for district policy and hold them accountable As a result we can expect high levels of constituency service and strong bonds between citizens and their representatives Voters have a greater opportunity to convey information about their preferences than they have under an SMDP system This is because they get to rank order the candidates rather than simply vote yes and no for one or more of them There is less of an incentive for voters to engage in strategic voting because they know that their vote will not be wasted if the candidate they most prefer is unpopular and unlikely to win their vote is simply transferred to the candidate they prefer next Encourages candidates and parties to win not only the votes from their base supporters but also the second preferences of others This is because these second preferences may end up being crucial to their election To attract these votes candidates are likely to have to make broadly based centrist appeals to all interests rather than focus on narrow sectarian or extremist issues Two Round Systems A two round system TRS has the potential for two rounds of elections Candidates or parties are automatically elected in the first round if they obtain a specified level of votes typically an absolute majority o Those candidates or parties that win the most votes in the second round are elected There are two types of two round systems o Majority runoff TRS candidate centered systems in single member districts in which voters have a single vote have a single vote If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of votes then the top two vote winners go on to compete in a runoff election Whoever wins the most votes in the runoff is elected o Majority plurality TRS candidate centered systems in single member districts in which voters If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of votes then all candidates that overcome some preordained threshold of votes can contest the second round Whoever wins the most votes in the second round is elected Two Round Majority Systems Disadvantages TRSs impose significant costs on the electoral administration After all the electoral administration has to conduct two sets of elections instead of one TRSs also impose additional costs on individuals who potentially have to vote twice empirical evidence suggests that there is a considerable drop off
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