Responsbilities of Electoral Systems

Question 1

How do you ensure a representative parliament?

Representation may take 3 forms:

Answer 1

First, geographical representation implies that each region, be it a town a city, a province, or an electoral district, has members of parliament whom are chosen and whom are ultimately accountable to their area.

Second, a parliament should be functionally representative of the party/political situation that exists within the country. If half the voters vote for one political party but that party wins no - or hardly any - seats in parliament, then that system cannot be said to adequately represent the will of the people. Through the representation not only of political parties but also of independent MPs, an effective parliament should adequately reflect the ideological divisions within society.

Also, there is the question of descriptive representation which implies that parliament is, to some degree, a ‘mirror of the nation’ which should look, feel, think, and act in a way which reflects the people as a whole. An adequately descriptive parliament would include both men and women, the young and old, the wealthy and poor, and reflect the different religious affiliations, linguistic communities, and ethnic groups within a society.

Question 2

How can elections be meaningful?

Answer 2

The meaningfulness of elections is determined by how powerful the elected parliament actually is.

PR systems incentivise meaningful votes more than majority systems do.

Question 3

How can elections be accessible?

Answer 3

Postal voting

Proxy voting

Easy to reach the registration office

Easy to register

Question 4

Which country out of the case studies is the least accessible?

Answer 4

THE USA