electoral systems paper 1

Question 1

where is fptp used?

Answer 1

general and local elections and metro mayors

Question 2

where is ams used

Answer 2

scottish and welsh parliament

Question 3

where is stv used

Answer 3

northern irish assembly and scottish locals

Question 4

how does FPTP work?

Answer 4

-single member constituencies, single vote, candidates require one more vote than the person in second place to win so plurality system not majority

Question 5

what are the outcomes of FPTP?

Answer 5

-safe seats foregone conclusions - 2019 liverpool, walton safest seat by 75% labour majority, also marginal seats most marginal in 2019 was fermanagh and south tyrone by 0.11%
-two party system, winners bonus
-parties with concentrated support do well, bias to one major party, single party gov

Question 6

pros of FPTP

Answer 6

-mp constituency link
-effective representation
-clear outcomes, single winner
-strong stable gov- workable majority
-prevents extremists party
-no public call for anything else, simple

Question 7

cons of fptp

Answer 7

-disproportional outcomes, seats dont equal votes
-plurality not majority
-one candidate per party, denied choice
-more safe seats

Question 8

what is supplementary vote

Answer 8

-voters have two choices, first and second
-if a candidate achieves over 50% in the first round then they are automatically elected
-if this doesnt happen, there is a 2nd round of counting with only the top two candidates
-2nd choice votes for eliminated candidates r added to first choice
-2nd choice votes added to 1st choice votes to give 2 final totals, one must achieve a majority

Question 9

in 2021 sv was used for the manchester mayor elections, who won in every ward

Answer 9

andy burnham

Question 10

what are the advantages of sv?

Answer 10

-winner must achieve majority giving greater legitimacy
-relatively simple
-voters can give support to more than one party
-small party supporters get more of a say

Question 11

what are the disadvantages of sv?

Answer 11

-not proportional
-winning candidate can be elected without maj
-can make 2 party system worse
-difficult to identify top 2 candidates unless in london

Question 12

how does stv work

Answer 12

-candidates must achieve a quota of votes, this is calculated by total votes cast/seats available +1)
-first preference votes are counted
-surplus votes from candidates who hit quota go to second preference
-votes from candidates with fewest 1st pref votes are eliminated and go to 2nd pref

Question 13

where is stv used

Answer 13

-northern irish assembly
-locals in scotland and northern ireland
-dep speakers in commons
-it has been embraced by the scottish people, makes council elections far more proportional

Question 14

what happened in the northern irish assembly 2022

Answer 14

sinn fein won 27 seats, so the most instead of dup who usually winn, sinn fein want reunification of ireland
stv is meant to create coalitions, but sinn fein wont work with the dup

Question 15

what are the advantages of stv

Answer 15

-dleivers proportional outcomes
-most popular candidate overall is elected
-likely to have a majority
-greater choice
-helps small parties

Question 16

what are the disadvantages of stv

Answer 16

-can be less accurate at transferring votes
-can give minority parties disproportionate power
-counting process is lengthy and complex
-complex
-large multi member constituencies weaken mp constituency link
-likely to provide an unstable coalition gov

Question 17

what is ams?

Answer 17

-hybrid system
-proportion of seats in legislative assembly elected using fptp
73/129 seats in scottish parliament fptp
40/60 in welsh parliament fptp
-additional members elected in multi member constituencies using regional list system of proportional rep
56/129 scot parliament - 8 regions, 7 reps per region
20/60 welsh parliament - 5 regions, 4 reps per region

Question 18

how does ams work?

Answer 18

-electors cast 2 votes - 1for candidate in single member constituency, 1 for party from closed party list in multi member constituency
-fptp counted first, candidate with most votes wins
-2nd ballot then counted, then add additional members to make parliament represent how the country voted on 2nd ballot

Question 19

advantages of ams

Answer 19

-combines best of both fptp and pr
-broadly proportional
-fewer wasted votes
-voters have greater cohice - split ticket voting
-helps smaller parties
-some parties use system to improve rep of women

Question 20

disadvantages of ams

Answer 20

-creates 2 categories of representative, could create tensions in legislative assembly
-smaller parties are often under represented
-larger parties can be over repped
-proportional outcomes are less likely where additional members are low e.g welsh parliament
-extremists
-more complex than fptp

Question 21

scottish parliament 2021 results

Answer 21

-no majority, snp and green in coalition
-72 seats out of 129
-snp won majority of votes, not proportional to seats

Question 22

senedd cymru 2021 results

Answer 22

labour have 30/60 seats in coalition with plaid cymru have 43