Electoral Systems Flashcards
(37 cards)
What is a referendum?
A vote on a proposal with a yes or no answer
What are the limits of referendums?
- Ad hoc
⤷ only used when needed - Advisory
⤷ Parliament can decide if they will act upon it
⤷ EV - popular sovereignty = unlikely to ignore will of the people
⤷ e.g. 80% of MPs voted remain
What are the 8 referdums since 1997?
1997 - Scottish devolution
1997 - Welsh devolution
1998 - NI devolution
2004 - North East assembly
2011 - Welsh devolution
2011 - AV
2014 - Scottish independence
2016 - Brexit
What was the context of the Scottish devolution referendum 1997?
- Regional
- Result: 74.3% yes, 25.7% no
- Turnout: 60.4%
What was the context of the Welsh devolution referendum 1997?
- Regional
- In relation to Scottish powers
- Results: 50.3% yes, 49.7% no
- Turnout: 50.1%
⤷ onlt 1/4 of wales voted for it
What was the context of the NI devolution referendum 1998?
- Regional
- To determine public support of the Good Friday Agreement
- Results: 71.1% yes, 28.9% no
- Turnout: 81%
What was the context of the North-East assembly referendum 2004?
- Regional
- Results: 22% yes, 78% no
- Turnout: 47.7%
What was the context of the Welsh additional powers referendum 2011?
- Regional
- Results: 63.5% yes, 36.5% no
- Turnout: 35.6%
What was the context of the AV referendum 2011?
- National
- Due to disagreements within the coalition
- Results: 32.1% yes, 67.9% no
- Turnout: 42.2%
What was the context of the Scottish independence referendum 2014?
- Regional
- Results: 44.7% yes, 55.3% no
- Turnout: 84.6%
- Led to rise in SNP and losses for labour
⤷ 2019 - only won Edinburgh
What was the context of the Brexit referendum 2016?
- National
- Due to split within cons and pressure from public (petition with over 2 million signatures)
⤷ party rebellion from Gove, Johnson, Cummings - Results: 51.9% yes, 48.1% no
- Turnout: 72.2%
What are the controversies around the Brexit referendum?
- Revealed that Vote Leave broke the law after it exceeded the spending limits by £7m
⤷ fined £61,000
Misinformation
- Claimed leaving would bring in £350mil a week for the NHS
⤷ UK Statistics Authority - “clear misuse of official statistics”
⤷ day after ref result Farage disowned the pledge
- Claim that Turkey will join the EU and millions will flock to the UK (Gove)
⤷ Turkey has been blocked since 1999 from joining due to its human rights abuses
What are the knock-on effects of the Brexit referendum?
- Gave more incentive for Scottish independence as 62% of scots voted remain
⤷ 2017 - Sturgeon won in scottish parliament to request another independence ref but May refused
What were the issues with passing Brexit legislation?
- Issues with developing legislation as MPs mostly disagreed with the public opinion
⤷ 80% of MPs voted remain
⤷ Article 50 went through in 2017 and it took another 2.5 years to leave
⤷ 2019 GE = more leave MPs and a pro Leave cabinet
⤷ EU Withdrawal Agreement passed 2020
Why should referendums be used?
- Promotes participation
⤷ e.g. 1998 NI = 81% turnout
⤷ e.g. 2014 independence = 84% turnout - Direct democracy
⤷ gives everyone an equal voice - Create a more informed electorate
- Deters apathy
⤷ more involvement between elections, which could be indefinite due to the removal of the Fixed-Term Parliament Act - Help settle on-going debates
⤷ AV, Brexit, independence - Makes gov accountable and responsive
⤷ Brexit - a response to public will (petition)
Why shouldn’t referendums be used?
- Undermines Parliament if overused
⤷ puts MPs at odds with their constituents - Allows MPs to take little responsibility
⤷ e.g. Johnson - one of the main pro-leave voices yet left the negotiations to May after Cameron’s resignation - Manipulation of the public
⤷ misinformation means the public would be inable to accurately vote on such imprtant issues
⤷ e.g. leave’s overspending and exaggeration
⤷ e.g. remain spent £9m on a leaflet - Yes/no decision is too vague
⤷ ignores the nuance with each scenario - Creates apathy
⤷ too many causes the electorate to feel overwhelmed
⤷2011 - Welsh powers 35% turnout, AV 42% - Does not settle the issue
⤷ devolution led to further calls for more powers
⤷ Scotland continues to call for independence
⤷ Brexit debate continued for almost 4 years with numerous petitions calling for a referendum to rejoin the EU - Gives gov too much power
⤷ can decide when and what question
⤷ e.g. May denied Sturgeons call for another independence ref - MPs and Lords (experts) are the only ones capable of deciding
⤷ voters tend to think with themselves in mind, not the bigger picture
What are the 4 types of electoral system?
FPTP
SV
AMS
STV
What is FPTP?
- An MP per constituency (around 75,000 people)
- Most votes wins
- Voters have no say in the candidates
What are the cons of FPTP?
Safe seats
- unlikely to change seats
- causes low turnout as most of the voters cannot influence the election
- takes up 60% of seats
- 247 seats have. ot changed in the last 50 years, 111 in te past 100
⤷ e.g. 2017 - Liverpool Walton labour 86%, cons 9%
⤷ e.g. 2019 - Richmond 64% sunak, 16% lab
Marginal seats
- seats wo with less than 10% margin
- means their votes are worth more than safe seats
- causes parties to direct their funding and time into those areas
- also means that more of the electorate is ignored
⤷ e.g. 2019 - 141 marginal seats
Wasted votes
⤷ 2019 - 22m
Tactical voting
Why is FPTP good?
- Easy to understand
- Quick
- Usually gives a strong single-party gov
⤷ coaltions are weak and slow - Close MP-constituents relationship
⤷ regular surgeries - Keeps out extremists
- MPs held accountable
- AV ref failed
Why is FPTP bad?
- Unrepresentative
- Wasted votes
- Inequal worth of seats
- Supports two-party system
- 2010 and 2017 no majority
- MPs elected without majority support
How does the supplementary vote work?
- Single member constituencies
- 2 votes
⤷ 1st pref, 2nd pref - Need over 50% to win
⤷ if none get 50%, top 2 candidates remain and their votes redistributed based on 2nd pref - Candidate with most 1st and 2nd pref wins
When is SV used?
Mayoral elections
⤷ e.g. 2017 - Andy Burnham (Manchester) won with 63% in first round
Police Crime Commisioners
Why is SV good?
- Encourages campaigning to more people
- Limits extremism
- Less wasted votes
- Based on majorities
