Electoral Systems Flashcards
Where is FPTP used?
Westminster park
Local gov in England and Wales
Advantages of FPTP
It creates stability and strong governments, able to make coherent decisions, yet retaining the flexibility necessary to adapt to changing circumstances.
a) MPs have a close relationship with constituents; they meet them regularly at
‘surgeries’, represent their concerns in Parliament and deal with their grievances.
The candidate who most people prefer wins the seat.
§y It is simple and easy to operate. All that is required is an ‘X’ in the desired voter choice I It is quick to produce a result.
For example, Newcastle Central was the first constituency to declare a result in 2017 at 11 pm, only 60 minutes after the polls closed.
g) FPTP has the effect of keeping out small, extremist parties by discriminating against them.
Disadvantages of FPTP
FPTP discriminates in favour of the two main parties, particularly those with concentrated support, so government is unrepresentative.
4) Votes are wasted on losing candidates or on huge majorities in safe seats, so not everybody’s vote is
‘worth’ the same.
4) Other systems also offer constituents good local members to represent them. For example, Single Transferable Votes (STV) (find out more about how STV works on page 27) and Additional Member System (AMS) (see page 26 for more on the workings of AMS).
E) Most MPs do not achieve 50 per cent of the votes in their constituency, so they are not representative of their constituency.
Electronic voting today means the ease and speed of operation of FPTP is overrated.
E) It discriminates against moderate small parties with legitimate causes and ideologies.
UKIP, the Green Party and the Lib Dems have all suffered at
the hands of FPTP
Where is SV used
London Mayor
Other elected mayors
Police and crime commissioners
Advantages of SV
It encourages moderate campaigning, as gaining
second-choice votes is important.
) It is a relatively simple system to understand and
Use.
It is the system that could most easily replace
FPTP. All that would change would be the way the ballot cards were marked.
All MPs would have the support of a majority of their voters.
It reduces tactical voting as you can vote for your first-choice candidate without fear of wasting your vote.
As it uses single-member constituencies it ensures good MP-constituency links.
It is associated with strong, single party government as it tends to give a
“winner’s bonus
to the party with the most seats.
Disadvantages of SV
It promotes voting for candidates from the main three parties because only two candidates can make the cut; therefore smaller parties will not secure enough first preferences.
) If there are more than two strong candidates, voters must guess which two will make the final round. If they guess incorrectly, their second-choice vote will be wasted.
Voters may need to vote tactically if they want their vote to count.
) It may mean that not all MPs secure the support of a majority of voters, because some of the second choices will be for previously eliminated candidates.
Where is AMS used
Devolved regions of Scotland and Wales
London Assembly
Majoritarian features
In a majoritarian electoral system, candidates must gain a majority of the votes to be elected.
• Parties can get a majority of the seats without necessarily obtaining a majority of the votes cast, which means that governments are often formed without the support of 50 per cent of those who voted.
• This type of representation often ensures that one party obtains a majority of the seats in a legislature.
• It is associated with strong, single party government as it tends to give a
“winner’s bonus
to the party with the most seats.
Plurality features
In a plurality electoral system, each voter can vote for only one candidate. The candidate who achieves the most votes (a plurality) is elected.
It is also known as winner-takes-all as no matter how close the vote, they win. A candidate can get much less than 50 per cent of the vote in a constituency but still become the MP.
Proportional system features
• Parties should be represented in proportion to their overall electoral strength. The percentage of seats they win should be similar to the percentage of votes they gain.
• No wasted votes - all votes are used and the voter feels more valued.
• Coalition governments are the normal outcome of this system.
List system features
Parties list their candidates in order of importance.
Depending on the percentage of votes each party receives, they will be allocated seats (if a party wins 50 per cent of the vote and there are 100 seats, the party will be allocated 50 seats; candidates 1-50 on the list will fill these).
In a closed list, electors have no say in the order of the candidates on the list; in an open list, voters have some say over the order.
Advantages of AMS
It is proportional.
Each voter has a directly accountable single constituency representative.
It gives voters a wider choice.
For example, they may choose a candidate from one party for their first vote, and choose a different party for their second vote.
A coalition government is more likely (this can also be a disadvantage).
Disadvantages of AMS
List members are chosen by the party and are
answerable to it rather than voters, giving more control to the party.
4) Having two different types of representative may create animosity between them. Those elected via the party lists may be seen as having ‘got in via the backdoor’.
) It can be complicated; people may be confused over what to do with their two votes.
% Smaller parties are less well represented than under a
fully proportional system.
Where is STV used
Northern Ireland Assembly
Scottish Local Council elections
Advantages of STV
Fewer votes are ‘wasted’, so most voters will have helped to elect one representative.
Greater choice - voters can choose between parties or between candidates in the same party.
& It offers voters more than one representative to approach with their concerns post-election.
& There are no safe seats under STV, meaning
candidates cannot be complacent and parties must campaign everywhere, not just in marginal seats.
g) There is no need for tactical voting.
~ A coalition government is more likely (also a disadvantage), so parties have to work together (for example, power-sharing is a feature of NI assemblies).
