Voting Systems Flashcards
(39 cards)
What type of system is FPTP?
plurality system
How can this lead to a two party nation?
> partly because it’s a winner takes all systems with each constituency being won by one candidate no matter the voter share.
as a result FPTP favours parties with a reasonable concentration of support across a large geographical area.
Give me an example of FPTP being a winner takes all system?
In 2017 North East Fife was won by the SNP by two votes after three recounts, the party in second place gained nothing as a result of two mere votes.
What is the winners bonus associated with FPTP?
> Not an actual winners bonus
More FPTP tending to over reward the winner of the election in seats
Why is this?
Because FPTP is not a national vote in the same way PR is it’s more a collection of 650 individual small scale votes in a winner takes all system.
Give me an example of a winners bonus?
> 1997 Labour got 43% of the national vote but 63% of the seats
conservatives in 2015 got 37% of the vote but 51% of the seats
What are safe seats?
> A seat where a particular party has strong voter loyalty and is almost guaranteed the win, such as West Leicester and the Labour Party.
come about due to winner takes all system.
What is a swing seat?
A seat where the voter loyalty within a constituency is evenly split. Such as Loughborough.
What is the advantage of simplicity in FPTP
> FPTP is a simply system that the voter and administration can understand.
resulting a quick and cost effective election.
What is the advantage of FPTP bringing about a strong gov?
> traditionally FPTP has been praised for providing the country with a clear legitimate winner
this is due to the winners bonus providing parties with a strong majority and mandate leading to effective gov.
What is the advantage of FPTP and constituency links?
> As FPTP divides the UK into 650 constituencies with a local MP elected in each one it means voters can have a direct impact.
meaning MP’s are more likely to remedy local issues in order to seek re election
How does FPTP bring about centrist policies?
> FPTP narrows the UK into a two party system
meaning labour and conservative have to cover a lot of political middle ground to ensure votes
meaning they generally produce widely accepted and popular policies in their manifesto.
How is voter choice limited by FPTP
> the simplicity of FPTP is down to its winner takes all system but this means for a lot of voters their only choices are conservative or labour as they’re the only parties with a real chance of winning
means people are often voting for the least worse candidate presenting FPTP as un democratic.
How doee FPTP create un equal voting?
> to achieve a ‘strong’ government the winner takes all system values votes unequally, as those in safe seats votes are largely futile.
whilst in swing seats the outcome could be decided by a few votes making each vote critical
this undermines the principle of representative democracy in the UK.
How does FPTP create a lack of a majority?
> due to FPTP being a plurality system it means a candidate can win a constituency with less than 50% of the votes
often in swing seats a candidate can win with less than 50% of the votes meaning more people voted against them than for them. Leaving the vast majority of constituents under represented.
How does FPTP exclude smaller parties?
FPTP over represents the main parties and underrepresents the smaller parties, this exclusion of the smaller parties in undemocratic.
What developments have been made in the 21st century regarding FPTP?
> increase in the number of votes for third parties excacerbate the issue of unrepresentative results and the infamous winners bonus
failure to deliver a strong single party government in both, 2010 and 2017 with the conservatives having to form a coalition, and in 2015 the conservatives had a 1% parliamentary majority.
When is AMS used?
> Scottish elections
Welsh elections
What two types of votes are used in the AMS system?
> regional vote
constituency vote
How is the constituency vote done?
> the same way FPTP is
How is the regional vote performed?
> each region in Scotland has 7 MSP’s and there are eight regions in Wales each region has 4 members and there are 5 regions.
each party is allocated a number of seats using the D’hondt method
it is not a winner takes all system
the 1 seat is given to the party with the highest number resulting from the D’hondt calculation this process is repeated until all seats in a region are allocated
How is AMS more proportional than FPTP?
> the second stage of the AMS corrects the issues of FPTP. The more seats a party gains in the constituency vote, the harder it is to gain regional seats as its votes will be divided by a higher number. This reduces wasted votes and ensures political parties have a higher chance of being represented.
What is the advantage of split ticket voting?
Voters have more choice with two votes to cast. So they can choose the right to vote for two parties. Encouraging more parties to run, particularly in the regional vote.
How does AMS produce governments with broader popularity?
In order to form a single party government a party must have a broader popularity across the whole country. Not just in concentrated pockets. If a coalition is formed a greater amount of parties can have impact on policy, supporting the notion that AMS produces governments with greater legitimacy.
