Electoral Systems in the UK Flashcards
1
Q
Introduction
A
- Electoral systems within western democracies invariably aim to be fair in their representation of voters and to ensure greater choice for all.
- In the United Kingdom two such electoral systems shall be considered and compared: First Past the Post (FPTP) as the British-wide electoral system based at Westminster, compared the Scottish Parliamentary electoral system known as the Additional Members System (AMS).
- Therefore, whilst on paper AMS offers greater choice because of it allows for two votes and is more representative through the party list, nevertheless FPTP is a more stable choice with obvious transparent constituency links and a majority in government. The factors that will be addressed in this essay are Stable Goevernment, Representation, Proportionality and Strategic Voting.
It will be argued that FPTP is a more stable choice for an electoral system.
2
Q
Stable Govt FPTP Success
A
- First Past The Post (FPTP) is more effective than the Additional Members System at providing a stable government.
- This is because FPTP allows for a strong government as the majority party can create legislation without relying on other parties.
- Evidence of this is in 2015, the Conservatives achieved 331 seats out of 650 seats.
3
Q
Stable Govt FPTP Success arguably
A
- Arguably this shows, FPTP is an electoral system promoting greater stability as it provides a decisive result which allows the government in power to pass any law, they want without being defeated by another party and so those in charge can pass their manifesto policies.
4
Q
Stable AMS unSuccess
A
- To further this, there is evidence to suggest that the AMS is less stable than FPTP,
- this is because there is an increased chance of a coalition government as it is hard to get a majority.
- Evidence of this is in 2021, when the SNP made a power sharing deal with the Green Party, and as a result, the Greens who have just 8 seats in Holyrood, now have 2 Ministerial roles in the Scottish government.
5
Q
Stable AMS unSuccess analysis
A
- Arguably, this shows as there is less chance of a majority government, the winning party is more likely to make deals with smaller parties to pass their bills, and as a result the larger party will need to give something in return, potentially creating an unstable government.
6
Q
Stable evaluation
A
- In evaluation, on the one hand whilst AMS allows smaller parties to be represented because of being less stable as seen with the 2021 Green and SNP deals, nevertheless it is FPTP which is most stable as there is an extremely high chance of a majority government because of its winner takes all nature.
7
Q
representation - FPTP success
A
- Another area of FPTP which could be considered advantageous is in its ability to create a strong link between a constituency and its MP.
- This is because it shows that because the candidate represents a significant share of the interests of their constituency both locally and nationally, voters may simply check them out whether they are breaking their campaign promises.
- For example, in East Dunbartonshire (ED) Amy Callaghan was elected with 19,672 votes in 2019 and is now accountable for ED as a whole.
8
Q
representation - FPTP success analysis
A
- Arguably, this shows FPTP is an electoral system promoting voter constituency links therefore more representative of the electorate as they would choose the individual candidate such as seen in East Dunbartonshire where Amy Callaghan would now represent the people of that area in parliament.
9
Q
AMS less representative
A
- However, AMS can be seen as less representative when looking at links between MSPs and regions.
- This can be seen when examining that there are no by-elections for list MSPs.
- This is evident in November 2020 Michelle Ballantyne resigned from the Scottish Conservatives representing South Scotland (region).
10
Q
AMS less representative - analysis
A
- Arguably this shows that due to her being replaced by the Conservative Party rather than voters at a by-election this negates the public’s choice and therefore the electoral system of AMS does not provide greater choice than FPTP in this regard.
11
Q
Representation - evaluation
A
- In evaluation FPTP offers stronger representation when it comes to voter constituency links. On the one hand whilst AMS there are no by-elections which reduces the public’s choice nevertheless it is FPTP which is most stable as can be seen in East Dunbartonshire with Amy Callaghan being elected with over 19,000 votes in 2019 showing more representation as people can choose who represents their area.
12
Q
AMS proportionality - success
A
- An area of weakness for FPTP as opposed to AMS is proportionality, as it can lead to parties that did not receive a majority of votes getting a larger representation in parliament.
- This can be seen as FPTP produces an unrepresentative and unfair result because they aren’t proportional as the number of seats won doesn’t match the percentage of the vote share.
- Evidence of this is in the
December 2019 UK general election, where the Conservatives earned 43.6% of the vote but ended up with 365 overall seats.
13
Q
AMS proportionality - success analysis
A
- Arguably this is important in showing if the FPTP is effective as it shows that it constitutes a weakness of FPTP when evaluating proportionality of, as 56.4% of the voting population had voted for alternative parties and were therefore not necessarily represented by the government.
14
Q
proportionality strength of AMS
A
- In contrast, proportionality is arguably a strength of AMS.
- This is because it uses a two-balance system which makes it more democratic.
- Evidence of this can be seen in the 2021 Scottish parliamentary election where the SNP had 47.4% of the vote share and received 49% of the seats in Holyrood.
15
Q
proportionality strength of AMS analysis
A
Arguably this shows the percentage of votes earned by the SNP is more reflective in the share of seats in Holyrood.
