Electoral Systems Flashcards
(46 cards)
Where is FPTP used?
UK general elections and local council elections in England and Wales.
How many constituencies are there and what is the average number of voters in each constituency?
- 650
- 75,000
FPTP is a ___ system.
It is ___ to understand.
Plurality.
Simple.
What does plurality mean?
The candidate with the most votes wins, no matter what.
Example of how FPTP is so simple?
1997 general election, Blair arrived at Downing Street at 1pm on the day of the election.
What did the 2011 AV referendum show about FPTP’s favourability?
68% voted to keep the system, however it was only a 42% turnout.
Why are proportional systems less simple?
Forming a government takes longer due to likely coalitions.
Example of how proportional representation is less simple to form governments:
2007 Scottish Parliament election took two weeks for the SNO minority government to be sworn in after failed coalition talks with Lib Dems.
Why is FPTP STRONG?
It promotes a two party system usually resulting in a clear and strong majority.
Example of strong majority and its benefits:
In the 1980’s, Thatxher could bring about widespread changes to the economy due to strong legitimacy.
Benefit for FPTP and extremists + example:
Plurality means geographically concentrated support is necessary.
In 2010 the BNP won 2% of the vote, but didn’t finish higher than 3rd in any constituency.
Why is FPTP strongly representative of its constituents?
Relatively small size of most constituencies means 1 MP for them is more than enough.
MP’s can do things like hold weekly surgeries to speak to their constituents.
Why is FPTP not representative of constituency support + example?
Over half of MPs don’t have a majority.
2015 general election, Alastair McDonnell of the SDLP won with 24.5%.
FPTP disadvantage due to wasted votes:
Votes for anyone other than 1st do not mean anything.
What is the winners bonus + example?
Despite having a lower vote percentage, a party may still gain more seats.
2019, Tories got 56% of the seats with 43% of the vote.
Disadvantage of FPTP in terms of limited choice:
Each party only puts forward one candidate for constituencies, limiting ideological choice.
Voters only get one vote so cannot rank their preferences.
Where is AMS (additional members system) used?
Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Greater London Assembly.
How does AMS work?
Voters have two votes, one for a constituency representative using FPTP and one for a party within a region (this is the proportional bit).
How does the D’hondt formula ‘correct’ the constituency element?
Determines how many members a party should be allocated from the lists.
This gives parties who were underrepresented in the constituency element greater representation.
AMS more proportional than FPTP + example:
Regional level introduces an element of proportionality which corrects the FPTP stage.
1999 Scottish Parliament election - Tories won 0 constituency MPs despite getting 15% of the vote, but won 18 additional member seats to correct this.
Advantage of AMS still using constituency element:
Ensures a strong MP-constituency link remains.
Voters have a ___ choice than under FPTP
Wider.
Votes are ___ likely to be wasted using AMS compared to FPTP.
Less.
Disadvantage of AMS in terms of tiers of MP:
Creates two types of members, some with constituency responsibilities and some without. This means the latter may be less legitimate.
