1. Electoral Systems Answering an essay question

2. Types of questions Questions will focus on FPTP and systems of PR (AMS and/or STV) You will be asked to show an understanding of some or all of the following concepts Representation Voter choice Accountability Proportionality Each paragraph you write should address one or more of these concepts (remember to read the question!)

3. Structure AVOID taking the approach of looking at each system on it’s own in the essay What you should do, is take some of the key effects of the systems and address these For example you might want a paragraph on the contrast between majority governments, coalitions and minorities This would then allow you to bring in FPTP, STV and/or AMS

4. Typical issues you can analyse Majority/minority/coalition Multi member v single member constituencies Proportionality Safe seats, wasted votes and tactical voting By-elections Representation of smaller parties Representation of females and ethnic minorities *Remember and include some balance

5. Conclusions Your conclusion depends on the question! What you might want to consider FPTP is the perfect system for when there are only two main parties but doesn’t suit a country with a multi-party system like ours Both systems of PR are more suited to a multi-party system like ours However PR systems are problematic in elections that cover a large area like the UK General Election as constituencies would need to be really big It is argued that FPTP is the most effective system in these sorts of elections and that PR works best in more localised elections (such as council elections)

6. Question - STV offers more effective representation than FPTP. Discuss Examples Due to the multi party system that has developed in this country, for effective representation to take place, the STV would be the best choice, despite the flaws it has. This would give supporters of different parties better representation than FPTP can ever manage OR The answer to this question depends on the type of election the systems have to be used for. While STV offers effective representation for more localised elections, it becomes less effective for others. For General Elections, due to the size of the country, FPTP is still the system which offers the most effective representation.