1 / 41

Electoral Systems

Electoral Systems. Overview: Before lunch. Majoritarian and consensus democracy? Varieties of electoral systems: Winner-take-all Proportional representation Mixed Dimensions for evaluating institutions Normative Positive Endogenous electoral rules. Overview: After lunch.

afya
Download Presentation

Electoral Systems

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Electoral Systems

  2. Overview: Before lunch • Majoritarian and consensus democracy? • Varieties of electoral systems: • Winner-take-all • Proportional representation • Mixed • Dimensions for evaluating institutions • Normative • Positive • Endogenous electoral rules

  3. Overview: After lunch • The complex relationship between social cleavages, issue preferences, electoral systems, and party systems

  4. Lijphart • WestminsterConsensus Democracy • 1) Concentrated executive power Power sharing in the executive (coalition) • 2) Cabinet Dominance Executive/Legislative Balance • 3) 2-party Multiparty • 4) Plurality Elections Proportional Representation • 5) Pluralist interest groups Corporatism, peak associations, etc. • 6) Unitary Decentralized • 7) Unicameral legislature Strong Bicameralism • 8) Constitutional Flexibility Constitutional Rigidity • 9) No judicial review Strong role for judicial review • 10) Central Bank controlled by Central Bank independence • executive

  5. SMDP Systems • A single-member district plurality (SMDP) system is one in which individuals cast a single vote for a candidate in a single-member district. The candidate with the most votes wins. • Examples: United Kingdom, India, Canada, Nigeria, Zambia

  6. How does SMDP work?

  7. The Alternative Vote • http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/interactive/2010/may/10/proportional-representation-alternative-vote-plus

  8. Two-Round Systems • A two-round system (TRS) has the potential for two rounds of elections. • Candidates or parties are automatically elected in the first round if they obtain a specified level of votes, typically an absolute majority. • If no candidate or party wins this level of votes, then a second round of elections takes place. • Those candidates or parties that win the most votes in the second round are elected.

  9. Who would win Aberconwy under TRS?

  10. Two-Round Systems • Examples: • Most presidential elections in Latin America • French legislative and presidential elections

  11. Proportional Electoral Systems • A proportional, or proportional representation, electoral system is a quota- or divisor-based electoral system employed in multimember districts. • The rationale behind PR systems is to produce a proportional translation of votes into seats. • Proportional electoral systems can be divided into those that use party lists and those that do not.

  12. Proportional Representation • How would a PR system work in the UK?

  13. Votes and Seats, May 2010

  14. List PR • In a list PR system, each party presents a list of candidates for a multimember district. • Parties receive seats in proportion to their overall share of the votes. • These seats are then shared among candidates on the list in various ways.

  15. List PR • List PR systems differ in important ways: • The precise formula used to allocate seats to parties • The district magnitude • The use of electoral thresholds • The type of party list employed.

  16. Divisors, etc. • Some are more proportional, some more friendly to larger parties

  17. District Magnitude • However, the key variable for determining the proportionality of an electoral system is the district magnitude. • The district magnitude is the number of representatives elected in a district. • The larger the district magnitude, the greater the degree of proportionality.

  18. District Magnitude • Although all PR systems use multimember districts, the average size of these districts can vary quite a lot. • In the Netherlands and Slovakia, the average district magnitude is 150. • In Chile, the average district magnitude is 2.

  19. Additional details about PR • Thresholds (e.g. Germany) • Open vs. Closed Lists

  20. Types of Party List • In a closed party list, the order of candidates elected is determined by the party itself, and voters are not able to express a preference for a particular candidate. • In an open party list, voters can indicate not just their preferred party but also their favored candidate within that party.

  21. Closed Party List • The electoral formula determines how many seats a party wins. • In a closed list system, these party seats are allocated according to the order of the party list. • Example: If a party wins 10 seats, then the top 10 candidates on the party list are elected.

  22. Open Party List • The electoral formula determines how many seats a party wins. • In an open list system, these party seats are allocated according to whichever party candidates win the most votes. • Example: If a party wins 10 seats, then the top 10 vote-winners on the party list are elected.

  23. Closed versus open list • Implications?

  24. Mixed Electoral Systems • An electoral tier is a level at which votes are translated into seats. • The lowest electoral tier is the district level. Higher tiers are constituted by grouping together lower tier constituencies; they are typically at the regional or national level. • Many mixed electoral systems have multiple electoral tiers, with majoritarian formulas used in a lower tier and proportional formulas used in a higher tier.

  25. So what? Dimensions for evaluating electoral institutions

  26. Dimensions for analyzing democratic institutions • Protection of liberty • Protection of minorities • Decisiveness, especially under stress • Credibility of commitments • Stability • Quality of democracy • Representativeness • Accountability • Rent-seeking and corruption

  27. Dimensions for analyzing democratic institutions (cont.) • Public versus private goods • Broad versus targeted programs and expenditures • The extent of redistribution • Budget deficits • Size of government as a share of GDP

  28. Protection of liberty • PR and minorities

  29. Decisiveness? • Are coalition governments less decisive? • What about minority governments?

  30. Credibility of commitments? • Again, coalition versus single-party government

  31. Stability • Weimar Germany?

  32. Quality of Democracy

  33. Representativeness • What can go wrong under PR? • What can go wrong under SMDP?

  34. Accountability • Clarity of responsibility • How important are districts?

  35. Corruption • Barriers to entry • Party lists

  36. Public vs. private goods, broad vs. targeted policies • Geography and marginal districts • Core support vs. swing district models. • Do small districts encourage pork?

  37. Endogenous electoral rules • Functionalist arguments about social heterogeneity • Colonial and historical legacies • Strategic elites • Boix • Calvo • Strategic fools?

More Related