In Canada the Single Member Plurality electoral system is used when voting during elections. Politics, Power and the Common Good by Mintz, Close and Croci define this system as “an electoral system in which voters in each electoral district elect a single representative to the legislature. The candidate with the most votes is elected, even if that candidate did not receive the majority of votes.” (Ch7, pg. 147) This is a system that is simple to administer and the candidate that gets the most votes than the others is declared the winner. The Single Member Plurality system comes with many advantages and disadvantages that will later be discussed. A few of the main disadvantages with this system is that it tends to reinforce the two-party system.
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Politics, Power and the Common Good defines gerrymandering as “the manipulation of the division of the country into electoral districts so as to benefit a particular party.” (Ch7, pg. 145) The goals of gerrymandering are to maximize the effort of supporter’s votes and to minimize the effect of the opponent’s votes. City Politics, Canada by James Lightbody describes the Single Member Plurality system and gerrymandering as, “Always gives disproportionately more sets than actual vote percentages confer to those who have the power to change the system.” (Ch5, pg. 181) Gerrymandering is accomplished and executed through various ways. One of the tactics used in gerrymandering is called “cracking”. This is a method that tries to have as much segregation as possible between specific types of voters against the rest. This is accomplished by spreading these specific voters across the districts in hope that they will not be as powerful and concentrated in any given area. Another tactic used in gerrymandering is called “packing” According to Politics & Policy, in their article they describe this kind of tactic as “packing its voters into unnecessarily safe districts, reducing its capacity to compete in the remaining districts.” The effects of gerrymandering can also be quite detrimental as well. Gerrymandering is effective because it is dependent on the “wasted-vote” effect meaning a vote that does not help to elect a candidate in any way. Another disadvantage of the Single Member Plurality system is that “it poses artificially high barriers to the election of female, minority and aboriginal candidates.” (Canadian Politics, part 4, pg. 298) Women and any other minorities are less likely to be elected into parliament because of the male-dominated
Politics, Power and the Common Good defines gerrymandering as “the manipulation of the division of the country into electoral districts so as to benefit a particular party.” (Ch7, pg. 145) The goals of gerrymandering are to maximize the effort of supporter’s votes and to minimize the effect of the opponent’s votes. City Politics, Canada by James Lightbody describes the Single Member Plurality system and gerrymandering as, “Always gives disproportionately more sets than actual vote percentages confer to those who have the power to change the system.” (Ch5, pg. 181) Gerrymandering is accomplished and executed through various ways. One of the tactics used in gerrymandering is called “cracking”. This is a method that tries to have as much segregation as possible between specific types of voters against the rest. This is accomplished by spreading these specific voters across the districts in hope that they will not be as powerful and concentrated in any given area. Another tactic used in gerrymandering is called “packing” According to Politics & Policy, in their article they describe this kind of tactic as “packing its voters into unnecessarily safe districts, reducing its capacity to compete in the remaining districts.” The effects of gerrymandering can also be quite detrimental as well. Gerrymandering is effective because it is dependent on the “wasted-vote” effect meaning a vote that does not help to elect a candidate in any way. Another disadvantage of the Single Member Plurality system is that “it poses artificially high barriers to the election of female, minority and aboriginal candidates.” (Canadian Politics, part 4, pg. 298) Women and any other minorities are less likely to be elected into parliament because of the male-dominated