Lecture 12 Flashcards
What is elections?
How leaders are decided
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The main means of selecting leaders and policies
What is glossary?
Important terms when discussing elections
- suffrage
- districts/ constituencies
- coalition
- electoral threshold
What is electoral system?
The rules on how votes are cast, counted and translated into seats
2 main type of electoral system:
- Majority (plurality & two round)
- Proportional ( list)
How is the plurality system?
First past the post (FPTP)
Each district elects 1 member of parliament
Candidate with the most votes wins
Example countries: UK & USA
How is the 2 round system?
If no candidate achieves a majority in the FPTP, usually top 2 candidates from the first round continue
Advantages of majority systems
- simplicity
- easier for voters to connect to their representatives
- increases accountability
Disadvantages: extremist parties
Disadvantages of majority system
- votes cast for non- winning candidates are wasted
- can exclude minorities
How is the multi member district?
Each party presents a list of candidates for all the seats in a district
Parties receive seats in proportion with the share of the votes received in that district
Open and close list
Open list:
- party creates a list before elections
- list is known
Closed list:
- party creates a list before election
- list is unknown
Difference: closed list is ranked by party officials and open list is ranked by voters
What is the advantages proportional representation?
- dicreased number of wasted cotes
- insures better, adequate representation
- favours minorities
