The Pros And Cons Of The FPTP

Improved Essays
The First-Past-The-Post system (FPTP) is currently used to elect representatives to the House of Commons. It is true that FPTP is an efficient and simple way of voting that has been trusted for years. Nevertheless, FPTP discriminates against minority parties and leads to non-accurate election results. The large amount of wasted votes is also a major criticism associated with the FPTP system. Recently, the Alternative Vote System is recognized as a way to increase fairness and improve election results. AV eliminates discrimination, makes votes worthy, and improves government functioning. Therefore, this essay analyzes the problems with FPTP with statistical evidence from past elections of the United Kingdom, and proposes Alternative Vote as a better voting method than FPTP. Despite some tradeoffs of using AV, it solves the problems of FPTP and contributes to a better government. During election, Britain is divided into numerous constituencies. …show more content…
Voters choose one preferred candidate, and they mark an X next to the person on a ballot paper. The one who gets the most number of votes wins representation of the constituency. So, it is easy to count the votes and clear to see who wins. However, the results tend to favor the major parties, i.e. the Labor Party and the Conservatives, and disadvantage minority ones. To illustrate, the Liberal Democrats Party had never won more than 62 votes before 2005. Other small parties such as UKIP, BNP, etc have never won more than 10% of the total vote. In addition, over the past 50 years of British elections, the power shifts between the Conservatives and the Labor Party, and is never in the hands of the Lib Dams or other small parties. Thus, using FPTP method in UK elections is a clear discrimination against minority parties. FPTP also leads to dubious, or at least not optimal, election results. Since it does not require a majority to elect a candidate, it allows representatives to win by relatively low amount of public support. Thus, the outcome does not accurately represent the chosen candidate’s popularity and capability. For example, the results of the UK General Election 2005 showed that the Conservatives got 32.3% of the votes, Labor 35.3%, and Lib Dams 22.1%. As a result, Labor won by having only 2% more seats than the Conservatives. This outcome was vague, since gaining 2% more votes did not prove that the Labor Party had a clear advantage over the Conservatives. Therefore, FPTP fails to select the optimal or the right candidate. Another problem associated with the FPTP method is that it causes a large amount of votes to be wasted. Wasted votes are those that have no effect on determining the election outcome. Often times, the winner needs less than the votes it receives to win the election. So those votes above the number needed for a candidate to win are wasted. Votes that are casted for a losing candidate will be wasted as well. For instance, during the UK General Election of 2005, roughly 18% of votes were excess for the winning candidate. And 52% of the votes went to the losing candidates. These add up to a total of 70% of votes being wasted. In other words, only 30% of the total vote played role in selecting the winner. Therefore, by practicing FPTP, the large majority of votes play no role in determining the election outcome. To solve the problems with FPTP, Alternative Vote can be applied instead. In the FPTP system, the result of election is not accurate since a candidate wins only by gathering a little bit more votes than the second place. The winning candidate does not prove his or her ability by holding several votes more than the other. …show more content…
As for the 2010 election, fewer than 460,000 voters made the final decision. This was only 1.6% of the entire electorate. Recall the election results of 2005, 70% of the voters did not vote for the winning Labor Party. If there was a second round, those 70% of votes could be used to alter election outcomes. So, voters can use their vote again to appoint their second favorite candidates. In other works, vote would not be wasted even if it didn’t make it through the first round. As a result, AV additionally gives voters the chance to impact the initial

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Electoral College Faulty

    • 1346 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The latest discrepeancy between the two voting systems revived the debate about the best election method. George C. Edwards develops the argument about how the Electoral College, with a faulty system detrimental to democracy, should be replaced with direct election. The Electoral College fails in protecting American citizens and candidates. It does not protect minorities or third parties.…

    • 1346 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The United States electoral system permits constancy and permanency in our nation due to serving as a way of checks and balances. Our system of government is divided into separate powers in order to ensure that all results are reasonably and fairly considered and accepted throughout the common ground. The electoral system is formatted in such a way that it allows for some securities for alterations to take place in order to keep a democratic stance while possessing stability of the political entities in mind as well. Despite sounding that it has a good system of operation, the electoral system has its pros and cons. However, The Constitution has regulated a fair system splitting it up into two senators per state and founding the House of…

    • 1500 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There are significant flaws with the electoral districts, candidates do not have to win a majority in order to win the election and this system encourages tactical voting. With over 60% of voters not being represented by the current majority government, the process of reforming the electoral system should begin soon to give these people a voice in their government (“Results of the Canadian federal election,…

    • 1022 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For hundreds of years, we have used the electoral vote rather than the popular vote when we have had to select a president and vice president. In this essay, we will be examining the structure and function of the Electoral College, comparing the Electoral College to the popular vote and assessing the value of the individual citizen’s vote under the Electoral College system. The Electoral College was created in 1787. The reason, the Electoral College was created, was to give the power of electing a president to the states and not to the people themselves.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In addition, redistricting and gerrymandering are used to promote political parties such as the growing dominates Republican Party. The elections are now more based on unfair gerrymandering, interest group funding, and campaigning rather than the politician. Therefore, the voting right act, unfair campaigns, and gerrymandering can dilute minority voters and their voice in…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The system distorts one-person , one-vote principle that our democratic country…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Through elections and the democratic process, citizens get the chance to grant authority to individuals to represent them and their interests because of this, elections and the electoral process are the cornerstones of democracy. Fair and representative elections encourage the exchange of ideas and opinions and are crucial in establishing a relationship between the government and the citizens they represent. Since elections have and will continue to be the most vital aspect of democracy, the procedural steps of elections and the formula for electing representatives will also be important. Around the world, there are different types of electoral systems. Along with these systems come debate about if these electoral systems lead to governments that truly represent the values of the population.…

    • 1759 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sectionalism In Canada

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The present system can likewise bring about contorted results for resistance or third parties, while completely closing out littler parties. In 1997, the Reform Party and the Progressive Conservative Party got nearly a similar share of votes—the Reform Party got short of what one for each penny more than the Progressive Conservative Party. Be that as it may, the Reform Party won 40 more seats. What's more, in a similar election, the Bloc Québécois, whose support was geologically amassed in Quebec, won twice the same number of seats as the New Democrats, notwithstanding accepting less…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Whichever candidate wins 270 electoral votes wins the candidacy, disregarding the popular vote. For example, in the 2000 election, Bush won the presidency, while Al Gore won the popular vote. Outrage erupted in the nation as a president was sworn into office without the support of the population. As a result of the phenomenon, a large portion of votes are rendered meaningless when a candidate loses the popular vote in a state, From this, a feeling of efficacy (when a voter feels that their vote doesn’t count) emerges, eventually leading to an endless pit in which hardly anyone votes. In order to avoid this catastrophe, our election system must go through a major metamorphosis.…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    By leveraging population size differences, the Electoral…

    • 1348 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Electoral College can make America great again. Many people oppose the fact it has a good purpose and it’ll make u work harder to get a vote. Third parties do not partake in a good position for acquiring a fair election. Protection and structure are essentials for honest elections. There are several advantageous benefits in the format of the Electoral College.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Electoral College Dbq

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages

    There are two different types of elections, a direct election, and a divided election (“Types of Voting Systems”). In a direct election, every voter’s vote counts as one. If a candidate receives a majority, or more than half, of the popular vote, then they would win. The voter’s vote would then count for one out of the total number of the population. In a divided election, the candidate needs to obtain a majority of votes, from the most states.…

    • 855 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Voting: A Right Hindered 1. What is the main idea of the passage? Why voters do not vote in local elections. 2.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is a much better method, and its implementation would streamline the election process, make everyone’s vote count the same, and elect…

    • 2002 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Single Member Plurality

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The MMP system instead of having the majority win the seat, splits up the seats according to the percentage of votes that a party receives. For example if the Green Party won 5 percent of the votes, then they would also receive 5 percent of the seats. Proportionality is very strong and evident within this system. What is also very different from the Single-Member Plurality system is that in a Mixed-Member Proportional system the voter does not only receive one vote, but instead receives two. This is due to the voter voting not only for their favorite candidate, but also for their favorite party.…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays