PR Evaluation

Question 1

+ Fairer for voters

Answer 1

+ Fewer wasted votes

+ Votes are of equal value

+ Voters can vote ideologically rather than tactically

Question 2

+ Fairer for small parties

Answer 2

+ In 2015 the LibDems won 9% of seats on 23% of the vote

+ All PR systems afford opportunities for smaller parties who find it hard to win individual constituencies

Question 3

+ Better representation of women and minorities

Answer 3

+ Party List and AMS allow for parties to promote women and PoC candidates

+ 41% of MEPs are women compared to 29% of MPs

Question 4

± Coalitions indecisive and unstable

Answer 4

• PR systems are likely to produce a coalition government
• Italy has had 63 governments since the end of World War Two
• In 2010, it took Belgium 540 days to make a coalition agreement

+ Coalitions can be strong and stable

Question 5

+ Benefits of coalitions

Answer 5

+ More representative

+ Promotion of compromise, collaboration and consensus

+ Guarantee a majority choice

Question 6

• Weakens constituency links

Answer 6

• Voters with multiple representatives might not know who to go about a given issue
• Blurred lines of accountability
• The policies of a coalition government aren’t determined until after the election

Question 7

• Small parties are too powerful

Answer 7

• Smaller parties often decisive in creating coalitions
• For example, the Green Party in Germany are frequent coalition partners despite rarely getting even 10% of the vote
• Furthermore, extremist parties like communists in Italy or BNP in the UK find it much easier to get elected in a PR system

Question 8

• Increased power of party leadership (CPL)

Answer 8

• Party List means that the party choose who they want to fill their seats
• The voters can therefore choose who they want to represent them
• The candidates are dependent on the central party for their seat so backbench rebellion much less likely

Question 9

• Too complicated

Answer 9

• PR uses a lot of maths which voters may not understand
• For example, in 2007 around 3.5% of ballots in the Scottish elections were spoilt
• A 2014 survey suggests that only 3% of voters understand how European Parliament elections work