Elections and Electoral Systems Lecture Four Elections and Electoral Systems

Why are elections important? Participation Accountability Legitimacy

From elections to governments Electoral system translates votes into seats Government formation rules change seats into executive positions

First past the post Country divided into 659 single-member constituencies Voters choose one candidate only The winner is the candidate with the largest minority A very simple and clear system

How Britain voted in 1997

Supplementary vote Country divided into single-member constituencies Voters choose one candidate All candidates passing a threshold go forward to a second ballot the following week Tends to produce a broad left-right contest

How Britain would have voted in 1997 under SUPPLEMENTARY voting

Alternative vote Country divided into single-member constituencies Voters rank candidates... 1, 2, 3, ... etc Any candidate over 50% first preferences wins If no candidate over 50%, lowest candidate eliminated and their 2nd preferences reallocated, and so on...

How Britain would have voted in 1997 under ALTERNATIVE voting

Advantages of plurality Straightforward Accountable No post-election bargaining Strong governments Discourages extremists Supplementary and Alternative convey information on preferences

Disadvantages of plurality Disproportional! Strong winner’s bonus. Unrepresentative No say in choice of party candidates Excludes minorities Encourages tactical voting Wastes votes Encourages apathy in non-marginal seats

Proportional representation The allocation of seats in the legislature in proportion to the votes cast for the party in the election Requires multi-member constituencies

PR: List system Country divided into a number of multi-member constituencies Voters vote for a political party Complex formulae translate votes to seats MPs drawn from a Party List

How Britain would have voted in 1997 under a PR LIST system

PR: STV system Country divided into a number of multi-member constituencies Voters rank candidates Often more than one candidate from the same party

PR: STV system Calculate “Droop quota” Droop Quota = Votes / (Number seats + 1) Any candidates passing the Droop quota are elected

PR: STV system Successful candidates’ “surplus votes” are transferred to other candidates Continues until all positions filled If no candidate can pass the Droop Quota, lowest candidate eliminated and their votes transferred.

How Britain would have voted in 1997 under a PR STV system

PR: AMS Country divided into single- and multi- member constituencies Single-member candidates chosen on plurality basis Multi-member candidates chosen on a list basis Weighting varies (eg Germany, Italy)

How Britain would have voted in 1997 under a PR AMS system

Advantages of PR Creates a proportional and representative legislature Communicates more information to leaders Increases parties’ sensitivity to electorate Increases minority representation

Advantages of PR List - facilitates party control and strong government STV - allows candidate choice within parties and conveys a lot of information AMS - keeps constituency link and ensures proportionality

Disadvantages of PR Multi-member system blurs accountability and makes government remote Government dependent on vociferous minorities Minorities can be extremists Coalition formation

Disadvantages of PR List - party control not necessarily beneficial to democracy STV - requires small (therefore disproportional) constituencies for choices to be meaningful; stress on candidates undermines government effectiveness AMS - two classes of MP - blurs accountability

Electoral reform in UK Scotland/ Wales - AMS European elections - List Local Government - London Mayor

Electoral reform in UK “Plant Commission” recommended electoral reform Agreement with Liberals to move ahead on reform Establishment of Jenkins Commission Referendum for Westminster elections promised AV-plus outcome Devolved Assemblies and European Elections

Conclusion British system seen by many to be antiquated, yet it retains key supporters who stress accountability and governability. Reform in second-order elections will be achieved more easily than at Westminster