Chapter 8: Legislatures and Elections

This Week What are legislatures? What are the different kinds of legislatures? What are the different kinds of election systems to lead to people being elected to legislatures? What is representation?

What are Legislatures? In democracies: ▫Filled with representatives of the people ▫Debate and pass laws ▫Point of entry for lobbyists ▫A starting place for leaders ▫Oversight of the Executive Basis of democratic governance ▫Magna Carta ▫House of Commons/Representatives Sometimes executives responsible directly to legislature

What are Legislatures? 2 In Authoritarian regimes ▫Appear to do these things as well, used to legitimate the decisions and actions of the regime ▫Chosen from a single party or members of dominant regime ▫Unelected (or unfairly elected)

What are the Responsibilities of the Legislature? Propose and pass legislation ▫Horse Trading ▫Fused and unfused legislatures ▫Different processes for passing a law in different states Power of the purse Speech making ▫Education

Unicameral Legislatures One legislative body Typical in states with small populations ▫Scandinavia Unitary states and homogenous cultures Often times associated with authoritarian regimes ▫Limits separation of powers

Bicameral Legislatures Two legislative bodies ▫Upper House and Lower House Democratic states almost exclusively Lower houses tend to reflect the population ▫House of Commons; House of Representatives Upper houses tend to reflect specific groups or regions ▫House of Lords; Senate Lower houses, in practice, usually have more power

Differences in Assemblies Legislatures with fused executive an legislative power is usually called Parliament ▫Head of Government is chosen from and sits among the legislature Legislatures with separation of powers between executive and legislatures are usually called Congresses ▫Head of government is chosen independent of the legislature

How are Representative Elected to Legislatures? Numerous systems, each with their own variations Single member districts (Non-Proportional): ▫Country is divided into numerous electoral districts ▫One representative is chosen from that district ▫That representative’s job is to represent that district in the capital. ▫Political parties often have lots of power in choosing who runs to be a representative ▫Do not have to be a member of a party to run

Types of Non-Proportional Electoral Districts First-Past the Post (FPTP; Winner Take All) ▫Most votes win ▫Often pluralities ▫To ensure broad support some states (like France) will do a Run-Off election if no one gets 50% ▫Large parties are often over-rewarded in representation ▫Small parties are often under-represented ▫Emphasis on local candidate

Proportional Representation Individual candidates and local representation shouldn’t matter Emphasize proportional result ▫Percentage of representation should be close to percentage of votes Often employ thresholds (require broad-based support for representation) Types: ▫Pure PR Open List

Mixed Systems Emphasize strengths and limit weaknesses of other systems Almost always more complicated ▫The New Zealand system ▫Germany Single Transferable Vote (STV) and the Alternative Vote (AV) Strategic voting

Relationships Between Executive and Legislature Differs based on organization of government Legislative oversight ▫Question period in parliaments ▫Reporting ▫Approval of appointments ▫Committees Firing the executive ▫Losing the confidence of the House  Germany – Constructive Vote ▫Responsible Government

What Does Representation Mean? Representation forces us to ask a series of questions about: ▫Geography ▫Gender ▫Group ▫Ethnicity ▫Caste ▫Party ▫Constintuency Further to this, not everyone always agrees, should one represent public opinion or their best judgement? ▫Bill C-51

Representativeness in Elections Unfairness in SMD/FPTP systems ▫Who represents the voters whose candidate lost? Equally weighted votes and districting ▫Gerrymandering Malapportionment ▫Brazil, the US, Canada In PR, these issues are less of a concern, but who represents you? ▫Party centrism ▫Lack of concern over local issues

The Role of Representation in Decision Making Committees and Parties ▫Party discipline or party line Why do party members often just do what their told? ▫Nominations ▫Fusion of Powers

Representation and the Relationships Between Branches of Government Where does the power lay? ▫Sometimes constitutions lie  Parliament and Non-Confidence Congressional/Presidential systems and the Separation of Powers ▫Coat-tails and lame ducks