January 26, 2010

 In representative democracies, their purpose is to allow voters to express their political preferences  Elections provide an opportunity for citizens to render a verdict on the past performance of their government  Elections have implications for who governs and what policies a government will pursue.

 Millions of people vote. Why?  Do voters have the capacity to cast an “informed decision”? While many individuals do not appear to be sufficiently informed, they appear collectively to make sensible decisions? Why?  What choices do voters have? Many or few? Meaningful or not? Does it matter?  Why do parties gain or lose support?  Are there “better” ways to elect a government?  Are there “better” ways to have an influence?

 Parties  Candidates  Ballot measures

 Executive chosen by parliament which appoints not only the PM but the entire cabinet  Unicameral vs. bicameral  Upper house is generally less powerful and not usually elected.  New elections can be called at short notice  Party leaders are in parliament and generally known

 President is directly elected  President appoints the cabinet  Fixed terms

 Candidates play a more important role in Presidential systems  Conflict over policy is more likely to arise in Presidential systems because presidents must share power with the legislature.

 Plurality (or first past the post)  Single member (usually)  Winner take all systems; seat awarded to candidate who receives the most votes  UK, US, Canada, India  Proportional Representation (PR) Systems  Multi-member  Use of Party Lists (ie. Netherlands)  Single Transferable Vote (Ireland)  Mixed Systems  Plurality and PR used to elect candidates in the same chamber  Corrective vs. Non-corrective

See IDEA website for detailsIDEA website

 Plurality systems facilitate two party competition  Plurality systems often create “manufactured” majorities  PR is associated with multi-party systems.  Rules thus have an influence on how much choice voters have.

New Zealand Elections ( ) National Labour Other YearVoteSeatsDifferenceVoteSeatsDifference Vote Seats

 Plurality systems are assumed to promote greater accountability because it is easier for voters to identify who to blame/reward.  PR systems often produce coalition governments (shared power  Coalition governments may make it more difficult for voters to figure out who is to blame.