Legislatures and Legislative Elections

1. POL 252
Fall 2014

5.  Organized Body
U.S. Congress British Parliament German Reichstag
 Power and Authority to Make Laws
 Political Units: Towns, Cities, States, Nation

6.  Assembly
 Parliament
 Congress

8.  Legislative Body
 Usually the lower chamber of a bicameral
legislature

10.  Found in parliamentary systems
 Executive selected from within legislature
 Executive responsible to legislature
 Legislative vote of no confidence
 Parliaments = Fused-Powers Systems
 Example: United Kingdom

12.  Found in presidential systems
 Central feature is separation of powers
 Legislature independent from executive
 Legislature cannot remove executive (impeachment)
 Congressus: “Friendly meeting” or “hostile takeover”’
 Example: United States

17. Govt.
Legislatures
Citizens

18.  Citizen Desires  Government
 Government Decisions  Citizens
 Dependent on interaction between legislatures
and other actors (e.g. executive)
 Example: Recess in U.S. Congress
 Important in:
 Single-Member Districts (SMD)
 Indirect Election of Executive

20. EDMUND BURKE TYPES OF REPRESENTATION
 Delegate Representation
 Follow Constituents
 Trustee Representation
 Listen to Constituents
 Make Up Own Mind

23.  Foster Compromise
 Participation of Minority Groups
 Impact on larger societal conflict
 Larger problems (e.g. trust in government)

28. PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
 Large control over
policymaking in govt.
 Removal of Executive
PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM
 Lesser degree of control
over policymaking
 Political differences due to
independence from exec.
 Divided Government (US)

30.  Development and passage of policy proposals
 Monitoring agencies to ensure implementation
 How does oversight occur?
 Question Time
 Inquiries and Hearings
 Investigative Committees
 Reports on Specific Issues

34.  Legislative approval of:
 National Budgets
 Tax Policies
 Denial of funds for domestic programs, wars

38. HOLD
 Prevents bill from being
voted on in U.S. Senate
 Way to get things from
congressional leadership
or White House
FILIBUSTER
 Hold the Senate floor by
making speeches so that
no action is taken on bill
 Cloture vote ends
filibuster (three-fifths of
Senate)
 Threat of filibuster is
powerful tool

40.  Negative power
 Case Examples:
 Canada
 United States
 Germany

43.  Number and Type of Chambers
 Number: Unicameral (1) vs. Bicameral (2)
 Type: Lower Chamber vs. Upper Chamber
 Relationship Between Chambers
▪ Breakdown of legislative power
▪ Equally Shared?
▪ Equally Divided?
▪ Unequally Divided?

44.  Size
 Degree of Legislative Professionalism
 Days of Legislative Session
 Member Pay and Staff
 Turnover Rate
 Do people quit, retire, etc.?
 Stability and Expertise of Body

46.  Independence of Institution as Whole
 Independence of Individual Members

47. FUSED-POWERS SYSTEM
SEPARATION OF
POWERS SYSTEM
Executive
Legislative
Voters
Voters
Legislative Executive

48. PARTY CHARACTERISTICS
 Candidate Selection
 Self-Nomination
 Political Machines
 Leadership Veto?
 Internal Organization
 Centralized or Decentralized
PARTY SYSTEM
CHARACTERISTICS
 Electoral System
 Party-Centered
 Candidate-Centered
 Party and Campaign Funding
 Rules on State Financing
 Rules on Outside Donations

52. One candidate is elected from
each legislative district.
Political parties may play a
role in this decision.

53. FIRST-PAST-THE-POST (FPTP)
 Candidate w/ most votes wins
 Do NOT have to win majority
of vote, just plurality
 Consequences: Districts
represented by other party!
RUNOFF
 Top two candidates after
first round of voting
compete in additional
elections until majority
 Case Study: France

55.  More than one candidate chosen from area
 What would happen if U.S. adopted this?

57. How are seats allocated?

58. OPEN-LIST PR
 Voters choose candidates
from party list
 Candidates elected
according to popular vote
CLOSED-LIST PR
 Voters vote for party list
 Candidates elected in
order they appear on list
until all seats are filled

60. ALTERNATIVE VOTE (AV)
 Votes tallied
 If NO candidate gets
majority, the last-place
candidate is eliminated
 Votes are reallocated to
voters’ more preferred
candidates
 Continues until one
candidate has majority
SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE
(STV)
 Votes tallied
 Votes of winning
candidates reallocated to
voters’ second and third
choices until slate elected

63. SINCERE VOTING
 Voting for candidate who
expresses preferences
STRATEGIC VOTING
 Voting for candidate with
best chance of winning

65.  Representation vs. National Issues
 Voters get two votes
 Individual Candidate
▪ Member with most votes from constituency elected (SMD)
 Political Party
▪ Party votes tallied; seats based on party strength (PR)
 Can you see U.S. adopting hybrid system?