Electoral systems Flashcards
(23 cards)
what type of system is FPTP more likely to create?
a two party system
what type of party systems are there?
- multi party system
- two party system
- dominant party system
what is FPTP system? (key one)
a system where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins
what are advantages of FPTP? (key one)
- speed and simplicity:
- with its simplicity and familiarity, on the 2011 AV referendum, 68% of people voted against changing the FPTP system; with a 42% turnout - forms a strong, stable gov
- promotes a two party system that gives voters a clear choice
- 2019, where the election was focused on brexit and forced many voters to prioritise brexit over their own political views (as it forced voters to face up to the fundamental choice
what type of system does FPTP create and where has it been used? (key one)
it creates a plurality system where to win a seat a candidate only requires one more vote than the other, meaning they dont secure an absolute majority
- been used in GE
- been used in local council elections in england and wales
- in 1997, tony blair carried out constitutional reforms after a large election victory where labour won 418 seats
what is supplementary vote, what type of system does it create and when has it been used?
- SV is where you have two choice of votes, if someone gets over 50% of first choice votes they win, if not all but the top two candidates are eliminated
- if any of the second choice votes go to the top two, they are added on
- whoever has the most wins
it creates a majoritarian system as it attempts to secure an absolute majority for the winning candidate
- used to elect the london mayor
what is single transferable vote (STV)? (key one)
voters rank candidates in order of preference and candidates need to reach a certain quota before they can be elected. if a candidate gets enough votes, they win and their extra votes are passed onto other candidates but if no one reaches the quota, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes go to the voters next choice. this process continues until all the positions are filled
what type of system does STV create and where has it been used? (key one)
creates a proportional system that attempts to allocate seats in direct proportion to votes cast; which has been the cause for multi member constituencies
- been used for northern ireland
- been used for scottish local gov
What is Additional Member System (AMS)?
where has AMS been used? (key one)
- In AMS, members have two votes; one for their local constituency (done via FPTP) and another for a party (helps with the top up element with underrepresented parties)
- It has been used to elect the scottish parliament and the welsh parliament
how have referendums been used in the uk since 1997?
- 2011 AV referendum
- voters rejected changing the uk’s voting system from FPTP to AV
- this preserved the existing electoral system for further elections - 2014 Scottish independence referendum
- scotland voted 55% to 45% to remain in the uk
- boosted political engagement (84.6% turnout), but demands for a second referendum remains - 2016 EU membership referendum
- uk voted 52% to 48% to leave the EU
- led to huge constitutional changes and new trade and immigration policies
what are arguments for referendums in a representative democracy?
- it educates and raises awareness
- for example, the 2014 scottish independence referendum boosted political knowledge and turnout (84.6%) - it increases participation
- for example, over 33 million people voted in the eu referendum
what are arguments against referendums in a representative democracy?
- referendum debates can be based on misinformation and can be misleading
- for example, the “£350 million for the NHS” brexit claim, where the leave brexit campaign claimed that the uk send £350 million to the EU a week and instead it should be used to fund the NHS
- this was widely criticised as it wasnt correct - not all referendums boost participation
- for example, turnout was 48% for the north east assembly
what are the disadvantages of FPTP?(key one)
- lack of proportionality when it comes to vote share and seat share and exaggerates support of biggest party (winner’s bonus)
- in 2019, cons won 54% of the seats with just 43.6% of the vote - limited voter choice and could increase tactical voting
- cant reflect their political preferences more fully in comparison to AMS and STV
- YouGov data found that in the 2019 election, 32% of people voted tactically
how to judge electoral systems?
- how much choice voters have
- representation and proportionality
- the link between the representative and the represented
what are the advantages of AMS?(key one)
- voters have a wider choice than under FPTP
- in the 2021 scottish parliament election, the Greens won just 1.29% of the constituency votes but 8.12% of the top up seats and got 8 seats - the constituency element ensures the strong MP constituency link remains
what are the disadvantages of AMS?(key one)
- more likely to lead to minority and coalition gov’s which can be seen as weak
- for example, in the 6 scottish gov’s since devolution, 3 have been coalition gov’s whilst 2 have been minority gov’s - results in a less representative system that could be possible
- for example, in the 2021 senedd election, the green party won 1.6% of the constituency votes and 4.4% of the top up votes but no seats
what are the advantages of STV? (key one)
- highly proportional system with with very close correlation between votes and seats
- voter choice is very high as they can rank candidates according to their preference which gives them multiple votes
what are disadvantages of STV? (key one)
- counting votes is slow and the results are difficult to understand
- in large multi member constituencies, there may be a weaker member-constituency link
what are some comparisons of FPTP, STV and AMS? (key ones)?
1]. VOTER CHOICE:
1. in FPTP there is limited voter choice as voters pick one candidate, which can result in tactical voting
- for example, the 2019 GE, many voted labour just to keep cons out (or vice versa) and not because it was their first choice
- whereas in AMS and STV there is high voter choice as voters rank candidates in order of their preference (STV) and voters get two votes (AMS); one for party list and one for local candidate
- for example, in a northern ireland assembly election, a voter who supports the alliance party can still rank sinn fein and sdlp as backup choices
- for example, a voter in scotland might vote for a labour candidate locally (constituency) but give their second vote to the scottish greens (regionally)
2]. REPRESENTATION AND PROPORTIONALITY:
1. FPTP has low proportionality as a party can win a large majority with less than half the vote
- for example, 2019 GE, cons won 365 seats with only 43.6% of the vote
- whereas STV and AMS are proportional as seats allocated reflect vote share fairly (STV) and the party list element helps correct
distortions created by FPTP (AMS)
- for example, in the northern ireland assembly, stv ensures sinn fein, DUP etc, all gain seats that reflect their level of support
- for example, in the scottish parliament, snp won a minority gov in 2021 with around 47.7% of the vote
what is the impact of the FPTP on the gov or type of gov appointed?
- tends to produce single party majority gov’s as winning party have majority of seats without majority of votes
- for example, 2019 GE, cons won 43.6% of the vote but won 365 seats - can lead to a strong and stable gov
- for example, tony blairs labour (1997) had a large majority and passed major reforms - can lead to disproportionate results due to winners bonus
- for example, in 2015, ukip got 3.8 million votes but only 1 seat
what is the impact of ams/stv on the gov or type of gov appointed?
- wider range of views represented as smaller parties have more chances of winning seats
- for example, green party and ukip both won seats in the european parliament - more likely to produce coalition or minority gov’s as seats are awarded based on vote share
- for example, the scottish parliament often sees coalitions or snp minority governments
what are features of a minority gov?
- lacks a parliamentary majority (as they need at least 326/650 seats)
- for example, in 2017, theresa may called a GE hoping to increase her party’s majority but instead only won 317 seats; so she couldnt govern alone as there werent enough mp’s to win votes - less stable as they would struggle to pass laws and may lose votes in parliament
- for example, theresa may lost important votes, especially on brexit and mp’s in her own, opposition parties, rebelled or refused to support her
- this led to her resignation in 2019 due to repeated defeats and loss of authority
what are features of coalition gov?
- formed by 2 or more parties who form a formal agreement to govern together
- for example, in 2010, no party won a majority so cons (306 seats) and libdems (57 seats), with a combined total of 363 seats made a deal to govern together - there is power sharing; so decisions need to be made by both parties which can slow down decision making
- for example, after the 2010 GE, cons and libdems formed a coalition and shared powers like: camerons (cons) becoming PM and nick clegg (libdems) becoming deputy PM
