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16 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Functions of elections |
- provide a means whereby population selects a Gov. - obtained indirectly through elections to parliament - gives mandate to Gov of locality,region or whole country - legitimacy given to Gov. Manifesto - a mechanism of accountability - individual MPs held to acct for role as area representative of constituency, also hold Gov to acct. - mechanism of choice - choose representative and Gov, also voting an expression of policy preferences choosing between different sets of policies ideas. |
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How democratic elections are? Yes |
- democracy bout choice- elections provides this - free for all to contest and stand in - all required is small deposit returned on collection certain min no. Votes - freedom of expression - thus elections enhance democracy by educating and informing the public |
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Elections are democratic No |
- choice is limited to mainstream parties all offering similar policies - therefore no real choice - reality - only those supported by a major political party stand reasonable chance of success - individuals with poor fundings stand lil chance - gov lacks democratic legitimacy if put in place by less than 30% of population (11million in 2015 Tories is less than 20%) |
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Types of elections in UK |
- Westminster: MPs : simple plurality (FPTP) - EU(Brussels): MEPs : closed part list - London: Mayor of London: SV - Northern Irish Assembly: members of legislative assembly: ATV - Devolved parliament Scotland: MSPs: AMS |
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FPTP |
- plurality system - winner with most votes often less than 50% - used for elections to parliament and English and welsh local gov - x on ballot , no order of preference - UK divided into 650 constituencies, one MP per constituency - highest number of votes wins seat , margin can be low or high - party gains 326 MPs = majority government formed( 2010 coalition formed, 2015 8seat majority) - all adults over 18 allowed to vote except prisoners (against EU judgement) |
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Impacts of FPTP |
- easy to understand and operate - strong link between voters and constituency MPs - established provides continuity -extremism at bay - tends to produce strong gov, one part usually wins over 50% seats HOC - however 1974- minority labour gov and 2010 coalition conservative -lib dem - system favours parties whos electoral support is geographically concentrated - support dispersed means difficult to win 35%+ of votes in constituency (UKIP and SNP example) - most MPs elected with less than absolute majority - more votes against than for them - wasted votes - candidates that no chance of winning or safe seats where results are inevitable - tactical voting- vote to keep out candidate they dislike cause favoured won't win - not proportional -97 labour 43.3% vite and 63.4% seats
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Other electoral systems |
- majoritarian systems: at least 50% majority of first and subsequent choice votes e.g SV(mayor) and AV(Scotland) - majoritarian representation occurs when party gets over 50% seats and can form majority in the legislature
- Proportional representation: seek to ensure proportion of seats won is approximately in proportion to cores votes won. E.g STV( NI) , AMS( Scottish parliament) , regional list system (closed) MEPs ( open version not used in UK |
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SV |
- mayoral election - two choices (1st and 2nd) - candidate wins more than 50% of 1st choice votes Elected, otherwise second preferences are added to the top two - winner achieves a majority - ensures overall majority - Boris Johnson 1.2m 1st and 2nd=won |
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AV |
- used in some Scottish elections - rejected in 2011 referendum 68% no vote - country divided into constituencies - one MP each one - voters order candidates in order preference, don't have to vote for all - one candidate wins more than 50% 1st choice= Elected - no winner in 1st choices= lowest candidate eliminated and their 2nd choice votes distributed, process repeated till overall majority - would remove need of tactical voting |
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AMS |
- Scottish parliament - 2/3 of seats elected by FPTP rest awarded by regional list system - two votes - FPTP and regional list - voters choose party not individual ( party offers list of candidates for that region) - seats awarded in proportion to votes cast for each party , seats awarded are distorted in favour of most disadvantaged in the FPTP system - called differential top up system - two types of representative - increases voter choice - enables smaller parties to win seats like greens - overall outcome tends to be approximately proportional |
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STV |
- Northern Ireland assembly - multi-member constituencies - each constituency returns 6 members in NI - Voters order candidates in preference as many as they wish - each party produces list of candidates each constituency up to six(rarely more than 3) - electoral quota calculated, votes cast/numbers of seats +1 and then one is added - candidates achieve quota on 1st preference Elected - surplus votes of winning candidates are taken(2nd preference) added to other candidates till all six candidates achieve quota - gives large choice and allows them to show preference between candidates of same party - benefits small parties to win seats - multi-party system, never strong government - favours power sharing system were all parties have place in assembly - essential in deeply divided society like NI |
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Regional list system (closed) |
- for MEPs - country divided regions - parties create list of candidates in there order of preference for each region - vote for party rather than individual candidate - seats are awarded in direct proportion to votes, 30% votes in region= top 30% of candidates on its list for that region - winning candidates represent region rather than constituency - close correlation between proportion of votes cast and seats awarded - every vote is of equal value - system helps small parties e.g UKIP and Green party - not used in UK so far large number of parties wins seats is relatively of lil significance - in countries were used tho produce coalitions |
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Party Systems |
- one dominant party System: one party almost always in power- occurs when high level of consensus in society and party represents this- can occur with any system e.g lib Dems in Japan - Two party System: only two parties have realistic chance of winning: FPTP as it discriminates against smaller parties e.g UK labour and Tories - Two and a half party System: two dominant parties, but a third has influence and may hold balance of power:FPTP, AMS e.g 2010 lib Dems UK - multi-party system: more than 2 realistically compete for power : AMS, STV List: Scotland, NI |
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Electoral reform Keep FPTP |
- 2011 67.9% no vote for AV system - simple to use, just a cross in a box - quick , election results obtained same day and new Gov within 24hours - keeps out extremist parties - prevents them from gaining support which may undermine democratic values - strong stable government: can achieve set goals and fulfil manifesto pledges, not undermined by coalition deals - clear accountability: FPTP system has a sense of punishing Gov that lets public down - no widespread demand for change, 2011 AV result showed ended any question that current system unpopular |
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Electoral reform Get rid of FPTP |
- legitimacy of MPs questionable: under 1/3 get 50% of the viewing constituency - legitimacy of Gov questionable: no single party Gov since 31 has won over 50% vote , Gov formed with minority votes 35% labour 2005 - discriminates against small parties: UKIP 12.6% of vote yet 1seat SNP 4.7% and 56seats - bias to labour: lowest vote to seat ratio, fewer votes to elect labour MP than others - wasted votes: votes for candidates that have no chance to win, or votes in safe seats were results inevitable - safe seats: GE decided in marginal seats - meaning not all votes are of equal value, areas outcome predicable apathy wins as people see their vote as worthless |
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General elections 2010 |
- hung parliament - conservative and liberal Dems formed coalition - first since ww2 - one condition was changing FPTP to AV referendum - 2011 no vote - results discriminate against lib Dems 8.7% seats for 23% of vote |
