FSU CPO 2002 - Chapter 13: Elections and Electoral Systems

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Chapter 13 Elections and Electoral Systems Elections are fundamental to all democratic governments Electoral system candidates or parties or both determines how votes are translated into seats Strongly influences the proportionality and type of government Electoral formula set of laws that regulate electoral competition between The district magnitude is the number of seats allocated to each district In single member districts DM 1 This can range from 1 to 100 in nation wide districts A multimember district means there are more than one representatives elected from a particular district Senate districts in the United States DM 2 Majoritarian Election Systems A majoritarian electoral system is one in which the candidates or parties that receive the most votes win A plurality is the option that gets the most votes An absolute majority is the option that gets 50 1 of all the possible votes A qualified majority is the option that must receive greater than 50 to surpass a supermajority threshold usually 60 66 A unanimous majority is the option that wins the support of all voters Geographic constituencies are central to all majoritarian electoral systems Determines the universe of the applicable majority Majoritarian systems are candidate centric Voters select individuals rather than parties High on identifiability SMDP Systems In a single member district plurality system voters cast a single vote for a candidate in district The candidate with the most votes is elected Simplest and most commonly used majoritarian electoral system Examples U K India Canada Nigeria Zambia United States Congress Referred to as First past the post systems Advantages straightforward identifiable representative candidates incentivized to appeal to the median voter Disadvantages absolute majority unnecessary unrepresentative outcomes encourages strategic voting voters avoid wasting their vote Alternative Vote The alternative vote is a system of preferential voting used in single member districts where voters mark their preference by rank ordering their candidates ballots involves voters ranking candidates in order of preference on the Preference voting Candidate with absolute majority is elected If no one wins an absolute majority the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and his votes are reallocated until one has an absolute majority Advantages identifiable representative winner with absolute majority voters preference ranking accounted for incentivizes sincere voting incentivizes the cultivation of a broad base of support increased legitimacy Disadvantages complicated requires a literate voting population can still result in disproportional outcomes Two Round Systems A two round system TRS has the potential for two rounds of elections If no candidate wins an absolute majority then a second election takes place Winner of the second round is elected Advantages Winner obtains an absolute majority Voters may coalesce around candidates between first and second rounds Easy to implement in societies with high illiteracy Disadvantages Costly administration Disproportional Condorcet winner not guaranteed Can trigger violence in deeply divided societies Majority Runoff TRS Candidate centered systems in single member districts in which voters have a single vote A candidate with an absolute majority in the first round is automatically elected If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of votes then the top two vote winners compete in a runoff election Whoever wins a majority in the second round is elected Most common method of presidential election Majority Plurality TRS single vote automatically elected Candidate centered systems in u8single member districts in which voters have a Any candidate who obtains an absolute majority of votes in the first round is If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of votes then all candidates that overcome some preordained threshold of votes can contest the second round this differentiates Majority Plurality from Majority Runoff Whoever wins the most votes in the second round is elected Example French legislative elections Single Nontransferable Vote Voters cast a single candidate centered vote in a multi member district The candidates with the highest number of votes are elected Example Japan until 1996 Advantages Multimember districts allow for minority representation Multiparty representation from a single district Disadvantages Favors incumbent and well organized parties Few incentives to build broad based coalitions Incentivized to strategic voting Party Block Vote A candidate centric system in multimember districts all seats are allocated to the party that wins the majority The party block vote magnifies the control of the ruling party Proportional Electoral Systems district or the nation Allocates seats to parties in proportion to the vote share the parties win in the Proportional translation of votes into seats Employed in multimember districts The goal of PR systems is to produce proportional outcomes Proportional Representation Proportional representation systems differ in important ways 1 The district magnitude 2 The use of electoral thresholds 3 The precise formula used to allocate seats to parties 4 The type of party list employed District magnitude is critical for determining proportionality The district magnitude is the number of representatives elected in a district More district magnitude more proportionality stipulates the minimum percentage of votes a party must win Electoral threshold to gain a seat Legally imposed formal threshold or exists as a mathematical property of the electoral system natural threshold High barrier to entry results in low levels of proportionality Electoral Formulas Quotas and Divisors All PR systems employ quotas or divisors to determine how many seats each Quota indicates the number of votes that guarantees a party a seat in a particular party wins electoral district Hare quota of voters of seats Largest remainders method awards extra seats based on the largest leftover number of votes Party A gets the first seat Party E gets the second and Party B gets the third with the remaining seats being allocated to those with the highest average remainder This benefits small parties divides the of votes by the of automatic seats Highest Average Remainders Types of Party List Closed party list aren t able to express a preference for a particular candidate the order of candidates elected is determined by the party voters Advantages


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FSU CPO 2002 - Chapter 13: Elections and Electoral Systems

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