Summary Topic 3 - Electoral Systems in the UK Edexcel A-Level Politics
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Course
Electoral Systems
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
Detailed summary notes of the whole third topic in Paper one of Edexcel A-Level politics. Essay plans, detailed explanations and informed examples will make you feel reassured for your exam
DIFFERENT ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
FUNCTIONS OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
- Elections are used to choose representatives
- The most important way of involving citizens politically
- Elections can call parties, reps, and governments to
account
- Democracy demands people the choice over who
represents them: elections are the purest form of this
- Educational
- Prove a mandate for the government
POSITIVE ASPECTS
- Held on a regular basis
- Votes are counted carefully
- Virtually all adults are allowed to vote
- Freedom of info from the media
- Little corruption
- Clear representation to the citizens through FPTP
- Conduct is safeguarded by the Electoral Committee which
is independent of the government
TYPES OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
- FPTP
- AMS
- STV
- SV
FPTP: First Past the Post
- Plural system
- To win a seat, a candidate only requires one more vote
than the others
- Doesn’t have to be a majority Democratic?
- Used in General elections and local council elections
- Voters choose a candidate, not a party
- Small, single-member constituencies
- Winner takes all
- Voting is simple
- One vote for one candidate
, ADVANTAGES VS DISADVANTAGES:
- A simple system where voters can understand
However, gives an advantage to parties where support is
concentrated
- Helps ensure representatives are bound to the needs of
their constituency
However, is disadvantageous to those whose support is
dispersed widely
- It helps to ensure extremist parties have a hard time
gaining support
Favours the larger parties and prevents serious challenges
from smaller parties with a good cause
- Tends to produce an outright winner with an overall
majority
The winner tends to win a more proportionate share of the
vote than what it actually gained. 2019: Cons won 43%
of the vote which was changed to 56% of the seats
- It is traditional and is part of electoral history
In recent elections, it has failed to produce a majority and
can lead to a hung parliament (2010, 2017, 2019)
CONCENTRATED SUPPORT
- Has the effect of favouring those parties that have support
concentrated in certain areas, eventually making it harder
for smaller parties such as the Green Party to gain a
constituency and therefore more seats in parliament
- In England and Wales, Conservative support is the
majority in the South, making it harder for Labour
MPs to gain support here. The same goes for Labour
and the North. However, in 2019, the Conservatives
were able to break the ‘red wall’ as many people
‘lent Johnson their vote’ in order to achieve Brexit
SAFE SEATS
- Can also lead to ‘safe seats’ which means that it is
practically inevitable that a certain constituency will
remain the same party during an election
- This can lead to parties paying little attention to these
constituencies
- Makes voters feel like their vote is ‘wasted’ and can
decrease turnout
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