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Summary and College Notes GPSP
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Literature SV GPSPChapter 1: Electoral systems
College 2
There are three main dimensions
- The electoral formula
how votes are translated into seats
- Districts and districts magnitudes (DM)
concerns the division of a country into electoral districts and the number of seats
in each district
- Ballot structure
shapes the nature of the choice that voters are presented with and how votes are
cast.
The electoral formula is the core of any electoral system. There are two main families of
electoral formulas:
1. Majoritarian systems designed to identify a winner. Majoritarian systems consist
of:
a. Single-Member Plurality (SMP), follows a first-past-the-post logic. This is used
in England for example.
b. Alternative Vote (AV), used to avoid multiple voting rounds by voters giving a
preference of candidates. This is used in Ireland.
2. Proportional systems give each political party a share of seats in proportion to the
share of votes. Proportional systems consist of:
a. List proportional representation (list PR), used to represent different political
parties. Votes are counted for each list and the share of votes is translated into
the share of seats on the base of a quota, the Hare Quota.
b. Single Transferable Vote (STV), voters rank candidates in order of preference
and a quota is used (Droop Quota). This is similar to AV except STV in more
proportional.
There are also countries who use Mixed Systems. Examples of these are:
- Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) where the PR component is used to compensate
for the disproportionality of the majoritarian part, so that the overall distribution of
seats is a as close to the distribution of votes as possible. This is used in Germany,
Scotland and Whales.
- Reinforced proportionality (majority bonus), this is used so that the winning party
obtains a solid majority of seats to govern alone. Done in Italy and Greece.
, Pros Cons
SMP One winner, and easy to Minority rule leads to two-party
understand systems, less political interest and
lower vote turnout
Run-off More proportional, second round Expensive, time consuming, strategic
voting
AV More proportional than SMP, Still two-party systems and doesn’t
smaller parties are more likely to be prevent gerrymandering
chosen by preference, single
member district
List PR Proportional, minder wasted votes, A chance for extremist parties to rise
minority parties get a voice and decision making can take a long
time due to coalitions
STV Proportional, no wasted votes and Can lead to fragmentation of a party
voters can vote in-between parties due to competition between party
and preference, multi member members
district
MMP Voters get two votes: one for a Counting votes can take a long time
party and one for a local
representative, geographical
representation
The second main dimension of electoral systems is the organization of the territory into
districts. This is called the territorial representation the idea that members of
parliament represent the nation as whole, but also the residents of their district in
particular. The number of seats allocated in each district is crucial to how the system works
and is known as the district magnitude (DM).
Proportional systems require multimember districts: you cannot distribute a single seat
proportionally among parties. District magnitude tend to vary widely both across and within
countries. DM is the main element, alongside the electoral formula itself, that drives an
electoral system's effective proportionality. Full proportionality requires large districts.
The other mechanism of limited PR is electoral thresholds. A threshold is a percentage of
the vote that a big party must obtain, either in a district or across the country as a whole in
order to be eligible to receive seats. At this moment 17/23 European democracies are using
list PR employed some kind of threshold.
, The third main dimension of electoral systems in the ballot structure. Elections are not only
about competition between parties, they are also about relations among candidates within
the same party. This is what Shugart calls the Intraparty Dimension de degree to which
the system focuses on candidate or on parties. There are two aspects of the intraparty:
1. Ballot. Refers to the extent of part control over who is elected.
2. Vote. Focuses on the nature of the vote that voters can cast.
The main consequences of electoral systems
The idea that electoral systems shape intraparty competition is stated by Duverger.
Duverger’s Law states:
- Simple-majority single-ballot systems favor two-party systems
- Proportional representation systems favor multi-party systems.
The causal link between electoral and party systems by Duverger’s run through two
mechanisms:
- The mechanical effect the direct and mathematical impact of the electoral rule in
how it translates votes into seats.
- The psychological effect captures how parties and voters react to electoral rules.
Voters for example could cast a strategic vote rather than a sincere vote because
they feel like they aren’t heard anyways.
Kriesi (2006)
Embedding hypothesis: the new demarcation/integration conflict will be embedded into
the two-dimensional basic structure that emerged under the impact of the mobilization by
the new social movements, transforming it once again
There are winners and losers of globalization, losers seek economic and cultural
protectionist measures and winners will benefit from competition and support open
boundaries
Political cleavages are boiled down to two main ones: a cultural one and a social-economic
one
There are two dynamics: transformation of the political space and repositioning of political
parties within the transforming political space
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