Electoral System And Representation Of Representation,...

Electoral System And Representation Of Representation,...
The variety of electoral systems currently in place has important political implications for matters of
representation, accountability, and government effectiveness. A given electoral system determines
the extent to which voters have choices in the election process, the way in which parties and
candidates are elected as representatives, the extent and form of political competition, and the means
by which the electorate vote is translated into legislative representation. Adopted by nations
worldwide are two voting systems known as single–member plurality and proportional
representation. As a result of the divisions and proportions of representation, two significantly
contrasting dynamics of electoral and governing processes emanate from the practice of these two
systems. This paper will comprise a systematic explanation of proportional representation and
single–member plurality for its style of voter choice and its method of electing candidates, followed
by a comparison of the forms of representation offered by and resulting from each system. Single–
member plurality.
The electoral system most familiar to the democracies of Canada, the United States, and the United
Kingdom is that of single–member plurality (SMP). A nation is divided into many districts or
constituencies. Each elector votes for a single candidate for their constituency on a ballot to
represent them in the legislative body. A candidate is elected to office if he or she receives the most
votes in his or her
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Why Do Voters Vote The Way They Do?
Why do voters vote the way they do?
A voter can be defined as an individual who votes, or has the right to vote, in elections. Voting
behaviour is explained using the concepts of expressive voting and strategic voting. A rational voter
would act more strategically, that is, the voter would vote to produce an election outcome which is
as close as possible to his or her own policy preferences, rather than voting on the basis of party
attachment, ideology, or social group membership (expressive voting). Strategic voting has become
more important than voting on the basis of political cleavages (expressive voting), so voters have
become more rational in their approach, however there is always an element of expressiveness in
their behaviour. Political parties were initially formed to represent the interests of particular groups
in society however, as these parties became more universal in the appeal of their policy
programmes, voting behaviour shifted from expressive to strategic. This essay explores the reasons
behind the declining importance of political cleavages, and the rise of strategic voting. "In their
seminal study, Lipset and Rokkan (1967) explained how ideological and partisan divisions sprang
from the social cleavages in the nation" (Russell. J. Delton.) An example is the 1966 formation of
the Black Panther Party in the United States. It aimed to represent black interests, and its main
objectives were full employment for black people, and securing "overdue debt of

An Argument For Single Transferable Vote
An Argument for Single Transferable Vote
One of the main functions of elections is to ensure representation. Yet, it is arguable that most
electoral systems do not return proportional results and therefore do not ensure proper
representation. There are numerous electoral systems that are used all over the world and every
country seems to have adopted a particular system that works well for them, but may not for others.
For much of the BC Legislative Assembly's history, the First Past the Post (FPTP) system has been
used for elections. As with most things political, each system has its positives and its flaws – and it
is the flaws of each used system that contribute to the failure of BC to provide proportionality where
it matters most. It has become evident over the years that there has not been equality in terms of
representation. For example, while women represent about half of the population, only about 25% of
elected politicians are women. It is even worse when it comes to minority groups – indigenous
people are severely under–represented in the government.
The currently used First Past the Post system is widely the most recognized and known system to
BC electorate. The next best–known system is Single Transferable Vote, a type of proportional
electoral system. In 2005, there was the first of two referendums to change to an STV electoral
system. The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform first recommended this system in late 2004.
Ultimately, the results from both

The Main Characteristics of Alternative Vote, PR List...
The Main Characteristics of Alternative Vote, PR List (open and closed), STV, First Past The Post
and AMS
There are many systems used throughout the world, which are based on democracy to ensure that
the needs of the populations are taken into account. Many countries are constantly trying to form
new models and techniques to ensure equality, but there are still many systems that have
disadvantages, for example, in the First Past the Post system the candidate with the most votes may
not necessarily win the election. In this essay I will explain the main characteristics of a few of the
most used electoral systems.
First of all I will explain the 'First Past The Post' system, which is also called ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
This electoral system also produces a stable government but has a slow and exhaustive ballot.
The system used in Germany is called A.M.S. It was adopted in West Germany in 1949 but is now
extended to United Germany. It creates a stable government and provides legislation. This system is
different from most as the elector has two different votes. One for the constituency, and a second for
a party. When the votes are counted the constituency representatives are elected from the first vote.
The constituency representatives fill half of the six houndred and fifty–six seats.
The party vote is made proportional to the amount of votes cast but computing how many seats each
party would be entitles to and then subtracting from that number the amount of seats each party has
won in the constituency vote. The figure remaining is equal to the number of extra seats received on
the second vote. A party, which fails to secure 5% of votes across the country of 3 constituency
seats, cannot take part in allocation of seats based on second votes. The list is ordered and the
candidates are numbered.
One complicating cam and does occasionally happen that a party wins more seats from the first vote
that the total entitlement under the second vote. The party is allowed to retain extra seats and the
Bundestag in enlarged.
Proportional representation list system

Politics
'THE FIRST PAST THE POST SYSTEM USED IN ELECTIONS TO THE WESTMINSTER
PARLIAMENT SHOULD BE REPLACED WITH A MORE PROPORTIONAL SYSTEM.
DISCUSS'
The UK General Elections currently uses the first past the post system as a means of voting in
government. Over the years this form of electing government has come under scrutiny and many
have questioned whether or not this electoral system is proportional and whether there should be an
electoral reform for a more proportional voting system.
Under first past the post, the voter puts a cross on the ballot paper, under their preferred candidate;
the candidate with the majority of votes wins government. Those in favour of the FPTP system
argue that it provides a strong government in that, the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Under STV, candidates are elected in if they achieve a quota of votes. The quota is calculated as
follows: total number of votes cast divided by number of seats filled(+1). First preference votes are
counted first, followed by the second preference and so on. The candidate with the least votes is
eliminated and votes are redistributed to the other candidates, meaning no votes are wasted. Those in
favour of this system argue that it is favourable because there are no safe seats under this system,
meaning candidates must campaign everywhere not just for marginal seats thus tackling the problem
of geographically concentrated constituencies. However the process in which counting votes takes
place is longer than that of the FPTP system meaning the winner may not be declared straight away.
Albeit a way to challenge this is through electronic ballot paper scanners.
Finally, Under the Party List system, there are two different types; Open List and Closed List. With
the open list, voters choose an individual candidate from the list of parties and the candidate with the
popular vote wins. Whereas, with the closed list , voters only vote for political parties and have no
influence over which candidate is elected. Those in favour of this system argue that it is potentially
the "purest" form of proportional representation in that every vote has equal value, making it fair for
all parties. Those that oppose this view would argue that the existence of

Uk Election Process
Publicity and Electioneering Activities
It is important that a candidate becomes well known in the area they are hoping to represent and to
this end they will often undertake a great deal of publicity work, such as leafleting houses,
displaying posters, and canvassing door–to–door for votes. Publicity costs money and so the more
wealthy parties will have an advantage. In addition, during a general election you will often see
party political broadcasts for the main parties outlining their policies. This is because they can afford
publicity campaigns that include film–making.
Voting Processes Used
As technology has evolved there have become more ways to cast a vote than ever before. Most
people are familiar with the traditional way of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
These can then lead to bigger elections down the line. An election period can last for anything from
1 year up to 5 years. A mayor will serve for 1 year; a local councillor will serve for up to 4 years and
an MP will serve for up to 5 years. The Prime minister will serve up to 5 years and can call an
election whenever they want in this time period, they will usually call for an election after a
successful or something that will make them be favoured by the public to increase their chance of
being re–elected.
The Influence of the Party System on Elections
Political parties have a tremendous amount of influence on the election process. Firstly and most
importantly, the political party in power is the one who chooses when to have a general election.
This means they can call a general election at any time within the five–year period that suits them
and makes it more likely for them to win. The party in power is likely to have the funds to support
their candidates and the resources for publicity to help them win the seat. This puts smaller parties
and independent candidates at a distinct disadvantage.
The Influence of the Party System on Elections
Political parties have a tremendous amount of influence on the election process. Firstly and most
importantly, the political party in power is the one who chooses when to have a general election.
This means they can call a general election at any time within the five–year period that suits

Electoral Systems in the Caribbean
Essay Question Number 4; The Electoral systems in the Caribbean needs to be changed. How real is
this view?
An election as a political process serves as the single most important mechanism for citizens to
participate in the selection of a government. When conducted to international standards, elections
tend to confer legitimacy on a government. In the Commonwealth Caribbean, the electoral
experience varies and tends to reflect not only the socio–political culture of the member state but
also its particular electoral system.
The electoral system determines the difference between votes and seats; how votes are translated
into seats. How many and what kind of votes are needed to get a seat varies from system to system.
As a result, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Electoral systems in the region are mainly of the first–past–the post type. Electoral systems are
essentially the electoral formula used for electing the executive and legislature. In the Anglo–
Caribbean countries (except Guyana), the first–past–the–post system elects the members of
parliament, a majority of whom nominate the prime minister. In the Latin Caribbean and Guyana the
electoral formula is more complicated, often including proportional representation and either an
indirectly or directly elected president. Caribbean electoral systems reflect the influence of the
former colonial powers and national circumstances such as the racial composition of the population.
Elections and electoral systems aim at converting the popular will expressed as votes into choices
between candidates of political parties for political offices in the executive and legislature. The
electoral system therefore reflects itself in the party system and the structure of governmental
representation. This association between elections, parties and government takes different forms.
Ideal electoral systems should comprise of competition, effective government, and fair
representation along with free and fair voting.
A review of the Caribbean electoral system show how these aims are attempted and the strengths
and weaknesses encountered. In the Dominican Republic there is a mixed electoral system where
the

The United States Health Care System
Out of the nineteen candidates running for president, Ben Carson, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders,
and Donald Trump were chosen for the analysis of their plans for the United States health care
system. The United States health care system has been in need of adjustment for years, with prices
being paid over double per capita compared to other countries. While they have some similar views
on current issues, there are drastic differences in the candidates' ideas for change.
To begin, Bernie Sanders, a Democratic candidate, believes that health care in the United States is a
human right regardless of a person's income. Universal health care is a foundation of his goals. For
example, he hopes to utilize legislation to remove fraud in the drug industry while also reducing
costs. He plans to expand and enhance the Medicaid program until universal coverage is achieved.
He states that the U.S. is the only major country that lacks health care coverage for everyone and
considers our current system to be "massively dysfunctional". He is looking to move towards a more
cost–effective and higher quality system. He hopes to carry this out by establishing a single payer
system like Medicare. He compares the issue of the poor not receiving quality care to the universal
public education that happened 100 years ago. One day he hopes to carry out that extensive and
needed change again but with health care.
The issue of the United States health care system is evident, and his views of

The Democratic Government Of Canada
Summary
The Liberal Government of Canada has promised the implementation of a new electoral system
within the next 18 months according to the second chapter of the document Real Change: A New
Plan for a Strong Middle Class. The document seeks to affirm that the 2015 election will be the last
federal election held under the first–past–the–post electoral system and that many reform options
will be thoroughly explored to replace it. Proportional representation (PR) systems appears to be the
most beneficial and logical alternatives to our current system. However, there is variety of different
forms of proportional representation and this paper will seek to explain why Single Transferable
Vote is the most viable proportional representation ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Regionalism allows for some voters to have more power with their votes, particularly Ontario and
Quebec over other provinces thus furthering regional tension and divide.
Voters in areas with a lesser impact on the Election outcome may feel a sense of voter apathy and
will be less likely to engage with political discourse.
Potentially wasted ballots on small fringe parties with no chance of winning or in electoral districts
with a strong partisan leaning.
Parties that have a diffuse national support may be underrepresented in House of Commons, The
New Democratic Party and in some historical instances the Conservative Party have been negatively
impacted by this.
The inverse of the prior problem occurs as well, parties with a concentrated regional support become
over represented in the House of Commons; The Bloc Quebecois have traditionally been an example
of this.
Strategic voting may occur to ensure a party is removed from power, voters will vote for an
opposing party with a good chance of winning versus a party with lesser support but whose platform
they agree with.
On Election Day a winner can be determined before polls across Canada close, once the Maritimes,
Quebec and Ontario are counted, a winner can be determined before the polls close out West.
What is the Single Transferable Voting

Advantages And Disadvantages Of The Electoral System
be noted that elections have been characterised by violence during and after the elections, and also
despite the conduct of elections, Zimbabwean political culture is that of a one party which has been
able to win all the elections since post– independence. Also, from the literature above, there seem to
be lack of consideration on the aftermath of democratic elections in terms of electoral violence.
There is much emphasis on regular conduct of elections as a determinant to democratic governance,
but there seems to be ignorance on the mechanisms to sustain democratic governance. Elections do
not indicate a perception of elections as a tool for political empowerment of the poor but rather
indicate perception of an opportunity to trade votes for material profit or favour.
4.0 Forms of Elections
There are many electoral systems throughout the world and there is little consensus as to which is
the best with regard to representation, broader participation, democratic governance, stability and
legitimacy. An electoral system, or simply a ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
It promotes effective and stable government. It also reduces the influence of political parties based
on racial and ethnic cleavages, unless they are geographically concentrated.It is simple to
understand, cheap and fairly quick to count the votes and work out whom has won; meaning results
can be declared relatively quickly after the polls close (Cameroon, 2011). Plurality system
encourages local accountability. It increases the possibility of producing a clear winner, and is easily
understandable; and it permits major changes of policy according to the electorate's wishes
(Amtaika, 2013:103). Also, in a political environment, it enables voters to clearly express a view on
which party they think should form the next government without fear (Dorey, 2008). It is ideally
suited to a two– party system and usually produces single party governments like in the case of

Comparing Electoral Processes in Uk
Electoral Systems in the UK
There are two main types of electoral system in the UK:
First Past the Post (FPTP) & Proportional Representation (PR)
First Past the Post (FPTP);
FPTP is the voting system used for the election of MPs to 'seats' in the UK Parliament. It is a system
in which the 'winner takes all' and usually gives a clear majority both at constituency and national
level. This means that a candidate in a constituency only needs one more vote than the nearest rival
to win the seat. Similarly, political parties only need to win one more seat in the House of Commons
to have a majority.
Advantages of FPTP;
There is very little chance of extremist parties being elected to Parliament under FPTP because they
are ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
FPTP also encourages tactical (unfair) voting. This means voting for a party, other than your
preferred party, to prevent another party from being elected. An example of this would be when a
Labour supporter in a marginal Liberal/ Conservative seat votes Liberal Democrat in order to keep
the Conservatives from winning.
Another disadvantage of FPTP can occur in marginal constituencies, where voters tend to change
their party loyalty from election to election, and among 'floating' or 'swing' voters, who have no firm
party loyalty. The outcome of an election can be decided on the voting patterns in these situations,
even although the constituents may number only a tiny proportion of the electorate.
Proportional Representation (PR)
There is a number of systems that use PR such as the Single Transferable Vote (STV) (the Regional
and National Lists) and the Alternative Vote. There is a third system that combines these two, known
as the Additional Member System (AMS) or the hybrid or top–up system. The AMS system is
presently used in elections for the Scottish Parliament, where voters can vote for single candidates in
their constituencies but also for candidates from regional 'lists' put forward by each party. If there is
a discrepancy between the percentage of seats the party has won and the percentage of votes cast,
the seats are 'topped up' from the

The Country 's Current Political Infrastructure
Entdeckungland fell as a country when their president, Giorgio Franz Diego Best passed away.
There country fell which led to throwing off Entdeckungland politics into confusion.
Ever since president's best's death all parties have be banned and thrown over by new ones.
Entdeckungland political infrastructure is leading the people of Entdeckungland to confusion and
this can harm the nation as a whole, not only its political system, but its very survival as a country
depends on how the country's current political infrastructure is resolved. No group has ever been
able to colonize the institutions of government and national administration enough to be able to
discriminate overtly against other groups. Another disturbing development in Entdeckungland
politics following President Best's passing, however, is the resurgence of political cleavages that
most people thought no longer existed, as well as the appearance of new cleavages that historians
say had never before held any importance for Entdeckungland. Entdeckungland has many problems
to fix, the only solution is to construct a political institution to help stabilize and progress the nation
as a whole. The main thing that Entdeckungland needs is to create a constitution that will satisfy that
nation as a whole, a constitution will set institutions for that nation to follow. Political party that
Entdeckungland will be based on is democracy. Democracies are based on "rule of law." The ancient
Greeks specially Aristotle valued

Comparing Democracies And Future Of A Nation
Conceivably the most significant feature of a democracy is the electoral system, which defines the
history and future of a nation. In the scholarly article "Comparing Democracies: New Challenges in
the Study of Elections and Voting", Lawrence Leduc, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the
University of Toronto, writes, "the electoral system... defines how votes are cast and seats
allocated". Consequently, the electoral system determines which candidate emerges victorious from
an election. However, these electoral systems are not simple. Electoral systems can be qualified as
majoritarian, proportional, or mixed; however, the systems of different countries all differ;
especially in complexity and degree of representation. A webpage published by Georgetown
University created by Charles King states, "There are many different types of electoral systems in
use around the world, and even within individual countries, different electoral systems may be found
in different regions and at different levels of government". The astounding amount of different
electoral systems within singular nations displays how challenging it is to choose the system best
suited for a particular nation and its people. Differing electoral systems can even potentially modify
the outcome of elections. Leduc states, "Applying two different formulas to the same distribution of
votes will produce quite different outcomes in terms of members elected for each party". The fact
that an electoral system can

Electoral System : A Primer For Decision Makers
This paper will be closely examining the 2003 paper "Electoral Systems: A Primer for Decision
Makers" by Donald Horowitz, listing what he believes to be the goals of electoral systems and the
conundrum of policy makers to choose the best system for the goals they wish to achieve. It will list
out the 6 primary goals of different systems of the pros and cons of these goals when dealing with
policy making and passing. What Is the true purpose of an electoral system? To be able to pick an
electoral system the first assumption to be made is that "No electoral system simply reflects voter
preferences or the existing pattern of cleavages in a society or the prevailing political party
configuration" (Horowitz, 2003). This paper examines the purpose of different electoral systems.
The best electoral systems are not ones that are straightforward and best show voter's preferences.
Every system has biases built into them that would make people perhaps vote differently under a
different system, it is impossible to do otherwise when truly creating a system that has to combine a
vast number of many different preferences into a single electoral result. The choice of one bias, or
really choosing one goal of an electoral system over another, is a policy choice on the behalf of the
chooser. Professor Gary Cox presents that electoral systems are either centripetal or centrifugal. "A
centripetal incentives lead political parties (or candidates) to advocate centrist policies; centrifugal

Britain's Electoral System
The change of electoral system of Britain from first–past–the–post to form of proportional
representation caused discussions and argues in the whole country. Does new system inspirit and
change course to better or lead to weak and indecisive government? Whereas first–past–the–post
developed stable majorities in parliament, there are always was a lack of suffer from grave
shortcomings, for example majority of population remains unrepresented in government bodies, and
a party, which wins less voices in selection than their contestants, can be represented by more seats.
Nation is looking forward to see the fairness and progress of parliamentary works of country, which
can be motivated by advantageousness of proportional representation. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
This is why the proportional representation is more fair system than first–past–the–post.
Nevertheless proportional representation has it disadvantages. First of all, there are complexity in
formation of government because of multi–party coalitions includes parties with different majorities,
goals and assignments. Owing to that, it is quite hard to produce common, clear and strong program.
A regime, which is based on this background, differs with instability. Secondly this system brings to
the situation when legation in government bodies gets political power. Also, in proportional
representation, because of election process carry out with political parties, not with specific
candidates, direct connection between constituents and their representatives is weak. Finally,
whereas the election of this system is for political parties, delegates depend on their partial
guidance. It can badly result in debates and important documents adoption. It seems clear that both
first–past–the–post and proportional representation electoral systems have their own advantages and
disadvantages. However, no doubts, despite all this disadvantages, comparing two systems gives
that in multi–party conditions proportional presentation more democratic than first–past–the–post.
Eventually, the analysis of advantages and disadvantages of proportional representation shows that
even with this numerous defects of system, PR can inspirit government with only

Canadian Electoral System Essay
During elections, whether provincial or federal in the case of Canada, voter turnout is important.
The amount of people that cast their votes during elections is later recounted and compared to the
previous years. When comparing the Canadian electoral system, Studler states that voter turnout in
provincial elections is much higher than the voter turnout in federal elections. Many of the Canadian
provinces proved this statement to be true after statistics from 1949–1999 were recounted.
Nonetheless, some provinces among which Manitoba figured proved to oppose the statement. In
those provinces , voter turnout during federal elections was much higher than the voter turnout
during provincial elections. Despite provincial voter turnout being lower ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
With the current system, it is easy for the people to hold parties accountable. Furthermore,
Canadians have always known and only been subjected to the current system which could explain
why most Canadians would not be for the electoral reform. The Single Transferable Vote electoral
system would be beneficial in Manitoba. As a rising mixed city comprised of people from many
nations and backgrounds, the STV system would be more flexible and easy to manage. Unlike the
FPTP system which discourages small parties and forces tactical

First Past the Post versus Proportional Representation...
Britain is considering changing current first past the post voting system (FPTP) to proportional
representation (PR). The main reason is that FPTP is "quasi–democratic" voting system under which
there is only one majority party ruling the government and it does not represent wishes of all voters
as some votes are wasted. Whereas, PR seems to be the best alternative voting system with
proportionality of seats in mandatory places, more parties ruling government and etc. Let us look at
these two voting systems and analyze whether PR is suitable and alternative change for FPTP and
do advantages of PR outweigh disadvantages. First of all, let us start with First Past The Post. FPTP
is the current voting system which is used for ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In 1997 Labour pledged a referendum on PR, but it was postponed and it has been argued that two
strong political parties, Labour and Torries, would have lost the most if there were any changes in
voting systems. If the referendum took place in 1997 elections, Labour majority would have to
share, approximately, from 46 seats to 166 MPs with Liberal Democrats. Liberal Democrats gained
16,8% of the total votes, but won less than 10% of the total seats. To clearly understand the concept
of PR and how does it work, two most common forms of PR must be evaluated. They are Single
Transferable Vote (STV) and Additional Member System (AMS). In Single Transferable Vote (STV)
each voter has only one vote. As in the name of the system word "Transferable" occurs, so votes
may go from a candidate who is first preference, to the second and continues if there is no
opportunity for a preferred candidate to win or a candidate already has enough votes. In this case it
is not obligatory to have a majority of votes, because all is needed is just to reach a "quota" of 50%.
Candidates, who have the least votes are eliminated and votes are redistributed. Using this voting
system, voters have more choice than in any other systems. Additional Member System is the fusion
of FPTP and Party List. Also it is known as Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). Under

The Electoral System Of Elections And Voting
Democracy has existed since ancient Greece, serving as an inspiration for others and the foundation
of many governments of today. Nevertheless, with time democracy has evolved and numerous forms
have been produced. Though these forms are all democratic, they all have their benefits and
shortcomings. The differing electoral systems of countries highlight their levels of democracy and
the effectiveness of their government. A common subject matter in the debate of electoral systems is
whether to create an effective government or represent the views of all. The many differing electoral
systems have their own pros and cons, each showing what a country values most in its government.
Conceivably the most significant feature of a democracy is the electoral system. In the scholarly
article "Comparing Democracies: New Challenges in the Study of Elections and Voting", Lawrence
Leduc writes, "the electoral system... defines how votes are cast and seats allocated". The electoral
system itself determines which candidate emerges victorious from an election. However, these
systems are not simple. Though electoral systems can be qualified as majoritarian, proportional, or
mixed, the systems of different countries all differ; especially in complexity and degree of
representation. A webpage published by Georgetown University with author Charles King states,
"There are many different types of electoral systems in use around the world, and even within
individual countries, different electoral

UK's Option to Reform its Electoral System for General...
UK's Option to Reform its Electoral System for General Elections
In the UK the current voting system for electing MP's to the House of Commons is called First Post
the Post. Within the UK alone there are 659 separate constituencies across the UK each electing
only one single Member of Parliament. Different voting systems were used within the UK up to
1950. Then in the years after there have been many other, sometimes fairer voting systems like the
Single Transferable Vote (STV) used in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, or the
Alternative Vote (AV) used in Australia.
Despite the fact of their being easier voting systems, first past the post is still an easy system to
understand. The ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
There is great lack of choice given the voters, the candidates are selected by a small number of party
members, and voters can only choose between parties, and not individual candidates. In addition
voters are represented unequally; in 1997 the average number of votes per MP elected was 32,376
for Labour, but 113,826 for the Liberal Democrats. So this shows that the system is not as fair and as
democratic as it should be.
An alternative voting system to First Past the Post, could be the Single Transferable Vote (STV), this
system is used in Northern Ireland for general local elections. By using STV there are still
constituencies but each is represented by more than one person, so normally about five or six
representatives. Then each party will normally put forward more than one candidate in each
constituency. The voters have to basically put the candidates in their order of preference, so it's
similar to Alternative Vote in some aspects. The advantage of this system is that the voter can choose
between parties and candidates.
This system is better than the present one, in certain ways, the major factor that the voter gets a lot
of choice. STV is broadly proportional meaning that all parties will get the equivalent share of the
constituency to the total number of votes. The main point of changing the electoral system within
the UK is to get a more democratic

The Advantages of Electoral Systems
Electoral Systems Introduction According to Farrell, an electoral system can be defined as the
determining means "by which votes are translated into seats in the process of electing politicians
into office". The electoral systems are important due to a number of reasons. They are designed to
define and elaborate how a political system is expected to function. Rhetorically, the electoral
systems can be considered as the mechanism that works to ensure the proper functioning of the
democracy by keeping the wheels straight. Almost every course of politics considers some particular
themes as concerned topics of importance. They include elections and representations, parties and
party organizations, the structure of government and the politics of coalitions. All these areas,
however, are not complete without the electoral system playing a major part. The design of an
electoral system defines whether it is easy or difficult for the politicians to win the seats. It also
defines whether it would be hard or simple for a particular party to gain representation in
parliament. Thus, an electoral system greatly affects the functioning of political systems (Farrell 2).
The primary function of an electoral system is to ensure that the system is accepted legitimately and
is run with smoothness. Other than that, however, electoral systems are also designed to serve a
number of other purposes. The functions of an electoral system are sometimes conflicting and are
not favoured by

Reforming the Canadian Electoral System Essay
Although Canadian electoral system has always undergone periodic reforms, new challenges always
accompany electoral changes and therefore the system should be consistently reformed to meet new
circumstances.The current electoral system in Canada is a product of a series of electoral changes
that have always taken place since the foundation of the Canadian confederation in the mid 1880s.
During the early years, the rights of individuals to vote were significantly limited as only white
males had the right to vote but only after meeting certain requirements. A secret ballot was unheard,
and it was only after a number of changes were implemented that all social groups in Canada were
given the right to vote. Even after these changes, electoral ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Canadian electoral system is largely based on the single member plurality (SMP) system which was
inherited from its former British colonial masters. The system dates back to several years before the
formation of the Canadian confederation. Some of the common features of the Canadian electoral
system include election candidates to represent designated geographical areas popularly known as"
ridings", counting and tallying of the votes casted on the basis of the districts as opposed to the
parties of the candidates (Dyck, 622). Finally, a candidate only needs a simple majority over the
other candidates in order to be considered a winner, even if the winner has a small percentage of
votes. This system has however been heavily criticized for its winner takes all way of judging
victory. Critics argue that if the winner takes over the whole system, it may result into unfair
representation of the various social groups, but it may also bring into power unstable minority
participation in government. For example, a candidate can win even with barely 25% of all the votes
casted, while the small parties may end up with no seats in the parliament. On the other hand, the
Canadian electoral system has also been accused of being undemocratic and unrepresentative in
many aspects. Although the Canadian single member plurality

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Proportional Representation
Proportional representation system is a system in which the variety of seats held by way of
contributors of a political party in a legislature (such as a parliament) is decided with the aid of the
quantity of votes its candidates get hold of in an election.[ (n.d.). Retrieved September 04, 2016,
from http://www.merriam–webster.com/dictionary/proportional representation
]With the proportional illustration system several participants of parliament are to be elected per
constituency. Basically each and every political party offers a listing of candidates and voters can
choose a list, that is they vote for a political party. Parties are assigned parliamentary seats
proportionally to the quantity of votes they get.[ Proportional Representation. ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
Because PR structures reward minority events with a minority of the seats, they are much less likely
to lead to situations the place a single party holds all the seats in a given province or district. This
can be specially necessary to minorities in a province which may now not have huge regional
concentrations or alternative factors of get admission to power.The voters have the ability to rank
candidates, the most disliked candidate cannot win, as they are unlikely to pick up second–, third–
and lower–preference votes too and there is no need for tactical voting.[ (n.d.). Retrieved September
5, 2016, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/modern/uk_gov_politics/elect_vote/revision
]Lastly , Parliament is extra in all likelihood to be both reflective of a nation's views and more
responsive to them. Parties are huge coalitions, and can have a markedly vast vary on a lot of issues.
With solely one party character per constituency, the representatives elected might also well now not
replicate the views of their electorate. Proportional representation system would help voters to
choose a candidate who most closely displays their very own views and values.
[ Switzerland, M. G. (n.d.). Voting Systems. Retrieved September 04, 2016, from

Boobs
Electoral process for candidates
To be a candidate for the uk
You have to be a British citizen
a citizen of the Republic of Ireland
a citizen of a commonwealth country who does not require leave to enter or remain in the UK, or
has indefinite leave to remain in the UK
You cannot be
a member of the armed forces
Electoral process for parliament
First–past–the–post is used to elect MPs to the House of Commons and for local elections in
England and Wales. the UK or local authority is divided into numerous voting areas i.e.
constituencies . At a general or local election, voters put a cross (X) next to the candidate they like.
Ballot papers are then counted and the candidate that has received the most votes is elected ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
STV is also used for electing the Northern Ireland Assembly, local elections in Scotland and
Northern Ireland and European Parliament elections in Northern Ireland.
Multi–member constituencies are required for STV which means constituencies are normally larger
but elect several representatives rather than just one.
Under STV, voters rank candidates in order by marking who they prefer 1, 2, 3 and so on next to the
names of candidates on a ballot paper. A voter can rank as many or as few candidates as they like or
just vote for one candidate.
Each candidate needs a minimum number of votes to be elected. This number is calculated
according to the number of seats and votes cast and is called a quota. The first preference votes for
each candidate are added up and any candidate who has achieved this quota is elected.
If a candidate has more votes than are needed to fill the quota, that candidate's surplus votes are
transferred to the remaining candidates. Votes that would have gone to the winner instead go to the
second listed on those ballot papers.
If candidates do not meet the required level , the candidate with the lowest rating votes is eliminated
and the second preference votes are carried to other candidates. These processes are repeated until
all the seats are

Electoral System For The Afghan Political Setting Essay
In September 2005, almost 6.5 million votes were counted in what was, despite noteworthy
blemishes, the freest election Afghans had ever experienced. After five years, 2.5 million fewer
votes were recorded, the aftermath of which were challenged by the parliament, by the electoral
commissions, and by the judiciary for months. Afghan parliamentary politics have been portrayed
by a weak party system, intense personalization, and a parliament that is unable to assert its
authority in policymaking. At last, we consider the alternatives options for electoral reform in the
Afghan political setting. In doing as such, we will examine two related options that could likewise
moderate a substantial portion of the deficiencies of the SNTV format. Moreover, finally, there will
be a recommendation on which electoral system to implement.
Afghanistan's Experience of SNTV
The technique by which Afghans choose their individuals from parliament obstruction to the
development of effective legislative representation, which is essential to democracy. The election
system currently used in Afghanistan is the Single Non–Transferable Vote (SNTV). While this is not
the more severe issue assailing democratization in Afghanistan, it intensifies many current issues,
most unmistakably by undermining the advancement of viable political parties or broad alliances
that could articulate coherent policy platforms to address the nation 's enormous difficulties. SNTV
is an obstruction to Afghan democracy by

The About Electoral System : Australia Uses Alternative...
2.1 About Electoral System
Australia uses Alternative Voting (AV), AV is where voters are asked to rank their preference for the
candidates from 1, 2, 3 etc. If a candidate receives a majority than the candidate wins, but if the
candidate did not get the majority than the candidate with the lowest average preference is dropped
than those votes are redistributed to the next candidate with the next highest preference. This keeps
on going until there is a majority. Republic of Ireland uses AV voting in their presidential voting,
similarly British tried to switch to AV in 2011 instead of First–Past–The–Post (FPTP) by holding a
referendum but AV lost. In U.S. history AV could have been helpful in the 1912 presidential
elections when the Bull ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This explains France's TRS electoral system trims down candidates to get a winner. List
Proportional Representation is use in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece,
Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and Turkey are also the most common electoral system in PR electoral family. Voters
cast their ballot for one of the parties than seats are allocated to the party list in proportion to the
number that are collected. There are slight variations in List Proportional Representation. Duverger's
second law is about the double–ballot and PR tend to be multipartism (Norris: 2004). Japan and
Republic of Korea uses parallel electoral system; the system is divided between List PR and
Plurality elections to elect candidates. Parallel system is divided for Japan for 300 in plurality and
200 in list PR, only difference is Korea uses list PR in a smaller way in Parallel system. Germany,
Hungary, and Mexico uses Mixed–Member Proportional Representation (MMPR) that is divided
plurality in single–member and List PR. The voters have two votes one for a district candidate and
the other vote for party list. The overall results depends on how many List PR seats to compensate
for disproportionality. Turnout is

How Far Does the Westminster Electoral System Ensure...
Westminster is the location of the Houses of Parliament, where the majority of political decisions
(other than those for devolved states) are made for the nation. The current Westminster electoral
system is First Past the Post (FPTP) which is used for general elections every 5 years (due to the
new fixed–term parliaments brought in by the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition.) The FPTP
system is constituency based, each person votes for a representative for their constituency and
whichever party wins the most constituencies gains governmental power. First Past the Post works
on the basis of a plurality of votes, that is, that the winning party need only gain the most votes out
of all parties to gain power, they do not need an overall ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The First Past The Post system's ability to create single party governments therefore means that that
government will be stable and cohesive. Within parties the majority of people have shared political
ideologies and ideas and so the party elected to government will be able to make decisions quickly
and efficiently as everyone will be aiming towards shared goals or desires for policies. The
governing party will be loyal to their traditional or modern ideologies and will have decided upon
one set of policies in their manifesto before the election and so they will not need a large amount of
discussion and debate before policies are passed. All members of the party will be subject to the
same party disciplines so they will all be following the same rules and working together which again
ensures that the government is stable. A stable government means that parties can pass their desired
policies quickly which will be beneficial to the public as they will feel that the party is doing their
role correctly and efficiently. If a governing party were to not be stable then it may affect their future
election prospects as the public are unlikely to vote in a party that they have previously seen as
unstable.
First Past The Post creates a

Fptp Voting System Essay
For more than 130 years, Canada's FPTP voting system has been a source of discussion and debates,
however, it remain all the same with no changes. In this section we will discuss few suggested
reforms and referendums on the Canadian electoral system that took place over the past decades
until most recently in 2015. We aim from that section to understand what might be the reasons for
not considering any changes on the electoral system in Canada. For example in the 1920s, the
emergence of a third party known by the Progressive Party helped to ignite the discussion about the
possibility of changing the federal electoral system in Canada. However, the submitted proposals to
switch to a 'majority electoral system' like the Alternative Vote system (which requires at least 50
per cent of the votes to win a seat) were unsuccessful. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Here we discuss only few of them. The 2005 Single Transferable Vote referendum in British
Columbia (BC). British Columbia, in which 160 citizen were chosen by random by the Citizens
Assembly in 2004 to held meeting debating the changing the electoral system throughout the
province. The Assembly met in early 2004 to set out a series of public consultation meetings. The
Assembly then decided to recommend that BC should adopt the Single Transferable Vote (STV)
system . Their recommendation to adopt a new electoral system was put in a referendum to question
voters in 2005 provincial election. However, the government at that time raised the existing
referendum legislation to require a successful vote to achieve at least 60 percent support across the
whole province, must including 50% support in 60% of the number of ridings. The referendum
results fell slightly short to meet the above criteria. In 2009, a similar referendum for the Single
Transferable Vote (STV) system was held in May 2009. However, the adoption of STV was

The Single Transferable Vote System
The Single Transferable Vote system is a system that was invented by a mathematician whose
processes are lengthy and confusing to the people who actually use it to implement change: voters.
The currently used Single Member Plurality system is widely understood and the best system for
Manitoban voters. While some may argue that the Single Transferrable Vote system is a superior
method of electing members of government in Manitoba, due to the unfamiliarity with candidates,
lack of voter involvement, and confusing nature of the system, the current Single Member Plurality
system is more effective and reflective of the actual views of the electors. All electoral systems must
take into account five consequences: proportionality, local ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
The alleged problems with the proportionality under SMP that STV seem to solve, may be more
beneficial on a national level, rather than on a provincial level as the population size is much smaller
and less diverse, therefor voters needs are far more similar than on a national level. The second
consequence of electoral systems is referred to as local representation. LP is extremely poor in STV
yet is excellent in SMP. This is the case because the current system elects one MLA per riding and
has much smaller constituencies, making contact between the voter and their MLA more feasible
and likely easier to get in contact with. Once constituencies grow and become large in size, like it
has a tendency to do in STV, there becomes a need for multi–member parties required for one riding.
Local representation under STV becomes an issue for voters when constituents are too
geographically large as contact with representatives become few and far between. Large constituents
with multiple members representing them, seem to be the answer to the problem at hand, however
there is no guarantee that there will be enough candidate interest to support these constituents under
STV. For example, if many of the towns in Northern Manitoba were grouped into one constituent,
due to the sheer amount of travel that would be required by candidates, it would be very difficult to
find enough candidates willing to sign up, and even more difficult for voters to engage face–to–face

Should Fptp Be Reformed?
Should the Electoral system used in general elections in the UK be reformed? The election system
that we currently have in the UK is a lot like marmite, you either love it or you hate it... There are
many different arguments for and against this system, however people forget that within getting rid
of the First Past the Post system, you will then need to then replace it. This then poses the vital
question of which is the best fitting system and should we really change tradition? First past the post
is a simple plurality system which requires the plurality of votes to win: that is one more vote than
the second candidate. There is no requirement to obtain the votes cast. In contests involving three or
more candidates, the winner may fall ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Furthermore The First past the Post system gives rise to a coherent opposition in the legislature. In
theory, the flip side of a strong single–party government is that the opposition is also given enough
seats to perform a critical checking role and present itself as a realistic alternative to the government
of the day. It advantages broadly–based political parties. In severely ethnically or regionally divided
societies, FPTP is commended for encouraging political parties to be 'broad churches',
encompassing many elements of society, particularly when there are only two major parties and
many different societal groups. These parties can then field a diverse array of candidates for
election. In Malaysia, for example, the Barisan Nasional government is made up of a broadly–based
umbrella movement which fields Malay, Chinese, and Indian candidates in areas of various ethnic
complexions. In addition to the arguments above there are some very strong disadvantages to this
system such as it excludes women from the legislature. The 'most broadly acceptable candidate'
syndrome also affects the ability of women to be elected to legislative office because they are often
less likely to be selected as candidates by male–dominated party structures. Although the evidence
across the world suggests that women are less likely to be elected to the

Electoral Systems in the Caribbean
Essay Question Number 4; The Electoral systems in the Caribbean needs to be changed. How real is
this view?
An election as a political process serves as the single most important mechanism for citizens to
participate in the selection of a government. When conducted to international standards, elections
tend to confer legitimacy on a government. In the Commonwealth Caribbean, the electoral
experience varies and tends to reflect not only the socio–political culture of the member state but
also its particular electoral system.
The electoral system determines the difference between votes and seats; how votes are translated
into seats. How many and what kind of votes are needed to get a seat varies from system to system.
As a result, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Criticisms are heard about the composition of election and boundary commissions and how they are
appointed or removed the manner and integrity with which the voter list is compiled, who is allowed
to vote. There is also controversy as to whether persons in the diaspora should be allowed to vote
given that their remittance makes a substantial contribution to the wellbeing of the people who
remains on the ''rock''.
Confidence in an electoral system translates into confidence in a democracy. It is generally agreed
that elections will hardly be completely free and fair. But a country must be satisfied that election
results reflect the will of the people. This means that even where there are malpractices in some
constituencies or regions the overall result is what the people, voting as a whole, intend it to be. This
was the conclusion of election observers in Jamaica's last elections even while the electoral process
fell short of the standards of fairness.
Elections have a stronger tradition in the Anglo–Caribbean than in the Latin Caribbean but even so
there is room to improve electoral laws and administration and to enforce codes of conduct during
election campaigns. Very importantly, there is the need to change the culture of violence so that
elections can be conducted in a climate of peace, and not only be free and fair but be free from fear.

Advantages Of The Electoral System
Is the Electoral System in the UK satisfactory?
An Electoral System which can also be referred to as Voting systems, involve the processes by
which we elect candidates. This ascertains the norms on how parties and representatives are chosen.
In the United Kingdom, there are different systems for the voting of The House of Commons,
devolved assemblies and mayors. The Commons and the House of Lords also use different kind of
voting methods for internal elections. There are various types of systems that are utilised to elect
mayors and representatives to the House of Commons, Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for
Wales, Northern Ireland Assembly, European Parliament and UK local authorities.
One of the most contested systems, but also a prevalent one in many countries like India and
Canada, is the First Past The Post System. It is seen as one of the easiest systems, and is often also
referred to as the winner–takes–all system. The winner of the election will be the candidate who
garners more votes than the others, simply put. The voter is given names of the different candidates
and simply has to chose one of them. In England and Wales, this system is used for local elections as
well as to choose Ministers to the House of Commons. In this system, particular regions are divided
into numerous constituencies and voters are supposed to mark ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
It is almost a replica of the Alternative Vote, with the only distinction that only a first and second
preference choice is offered to the people voting. After tabulation, if one candidate has not gotten
more than half the votes, the top two contenders with the highest votes are kept. The second
preferences on the papers of the eliminated candidates are counted and any cast for the two
remaining candidates are transferred. The candidate which at the end of this process has the highest
number of votes is then

The Current Winner Take All System
The current winner–take–all system is serviceable, but it is prone to polar inversions due to its
bipartisan nature. Neither party adequately represents the values of most Americans. Worse, is the
fact that most of the votes that go toward an independent or third party candidate are essentially
wasted, discouraging voters from selecting such candidates. It is a system which generally makes it
difficult for smaller parties to gain influence, and which rarely provides accurate representation to
the voters.
A winner–take–all system is, as the name suggests, one where the winner (the majority vote in this
case) is the only one selected for representation. The margin of victory does not matter; a 45 percent
majority is counted the same a 60 ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Winner–take–all systems tend to be significantly simpler and more stable. However, the
representatives in this system tend to be more polarized than the average voter in the districts they
represent. Additionally, winner–take–all systems tend to keep a very small number of parties in play,
limiting the voters' perceived reasonable choices. As pointed out earlier, the majority vote does not
even need to be a majority of the total. A candidate only needs more votes than any of the other
candidates to win, which may not be representative of the electorate. In a system with two major
parties, one of the worst–case scenarios could be an election where the winner only has about 45
percent of the total votes. This would mean that around 55 percent of the district's population is not
being properly represented. Minor parties are often looked at as hopeless non–options, since they
appear to be lacking the support necessary to win. Voters do not want to waste their votes, so they
will try to make what they believe to be the best decision between two highly polarized parties. It is
like trying to draw a rainbow in black and white–possible, difficult, yet not likely to produce an
accurate depiction. While this makes the system significantly simpler for voters, it also makes the
system more easily corruptible, and almost certain to produce a less accurate representation of
public interests. Part of the appeal for the argument of keeping this system is that doing so

UK's Main Electoral System and Should It Be Reformed Essay...
UK's Main Electoral System and Should It Be Reformed
Over the years Britain's pluralist electoral system has been scrutinised by many political and
pressure groups, such as the Liberal Democrats and the Electoral Reform Society. In their 1997
Manifesto, the Labour Party did state that they would look into the matter, by holding a referendum
on the issue, however there was no change as Labour had a large majority in 1997 and Labour has
preformed disappointingly in elections where Proportional Representation had been used. The main
electoral system in the UK should be reformed because the 'first past the post' system does not
represent the electorate in a democratic manner. It also under represents ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The system is also disproportionate, an example of this is can be shown in a study of the 2001
General Election.
From the 2001 General Election results, we can deliberately see that through our pluralist electoral
system, the system is disproportionate. We can see many examples of this]. The percentage of votes
to the percentage of seats is unequal, showing how its 'seats not votes that count,' and judging by
labour's "landslide" victory. In fact, we can see that Labour did not even gain a majority from voters
but only from seats. Another example is the Liberal Democrats; they received 18.3% of the
electorate's votes, but only received less than half the percentage of seats at 7.9%. Labour also
received a mere 9% more votes than the Conservatives, but yet still managed to acquire around 247
more seats. This also shows that some parties, especially Labour in the 2001 elections, are over
represented and this can lead eventually lead to a dangerous 'one party system', which certainly
undermines our ideology of a Democracy. On average 70% of votes are also wasted during a single
election. We find that 100.0% of votes are accounted for, only 40.7% actually counted, therefore,
votes a drastically wasted.
Other arguments to demonstrate how the

Scottish Devolution Essay examples
Devolution is the transfer of powers from a central body to subordinate regional bodies. In Scotland,
Devolution was set up to restore legitimacy to a system of government that reflected Scottish
preferences. The reason behind the demand for Scottish self–government is that Scotland had the
historic status of nationhood before the Union of 1707 and within the Union, has a different set of
legal, educational and religious institutions that reinforce a Scottish identity.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) was founded In 1934 and In 1960 was found oil in the North Sea,
what changed the Scottish public opinion about the Union as the main cause to join it was
economical; having oil would suppose economical independence from England.
In 1967 ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In October 1974 is was held another elections and the SNP representation in the Parliament raised to
11 seats. The Labour Government became weaker and started to prepare the legal situation for the
incoming Referendum. The Government failed in amend a bill for Scotland and Wales Devolution,
but it was introduced a separate amendment which made necessary the 40% of the eligible Scottish
electorate to vote "yes" for the effective devolution of powers, that was known as the Cunningham
Amendment. The 1st of March of 1979 it was held a referendum and "Yes" won but with not enough
representation to reach the 40% needed to start the Scottish devolution.
Scottish devolution was defeated in the referendum and the two biggest parties campaigned for
"No". The SNP considered the results as a victory for devolution but was against the referendum as
they were campaigning about the complete independence.
In 1977 a Labour Member of Parliament introduced a important issue, a question that was called
"The West Lothian Question" later on and referred to the ability to vote on matters that only afected
people living in England by Members of Parliament from constituencies in Northern Ireland,
Scotland and Wales, as a consequence of the devolution of power from Westminster and Scottish
parliament, Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies.
In 1979 it was a motion of no confidence against the Labour Government, that had as a direct
consequence the celebration

Electoral Reform In Canada Essay
Canada is a young country which follows the British constitution since 1982. When Canada was
created, it was a self–governing British colony, and the British north America act, 1867, codified
many constitutional rules for Canada, but the major changes to the Constitution could only be made
by the UK Parliament. Since then, Canada is following its elections under the system called FPTP
(first past the post) and still elect under the same system. Since the 1990's, electoral reform has been
increasingly associated with calls for an end to the federal and provincial governments' use of the
first past the post (FPTP) voting system in favor of one that is proportionally representative of
Canadians political preferences. (Yarhi.E, 2015). Electoral ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
Since its establishment in 1867, senators have been appointed by the governor general on the advice
of the prime minister. Several politicians and commentators have criticized the institution on the
basis that it is undemocratic. Polls also suggest that most Canadians support some form of Senate
change, be it abolition or reform. According to a poll released in April 2015, 41 per cent of
Canadians believe the Senate should be abolished, while another 45 per cent believe it should be
reformed. (Block.N, 2015). Several changes have been recommended to the system on how the
senate works. One of them being that the senators should be elected and not appointed. Some other
suggestion was that senators should not be appointed by anyone from the prime minister's office but
by officials outside. Not just the senate but even in the house of commons, the current system fails,
as the 338 seats are filled by the majority government and the opposition party, but all the others
small parties are left out and do not have any say in the house of

Assess the Criticisms of the Various Electoral Systems in...
Assess the criticisms of the various electoral systems used in the UK
In the UK, we have been using the First Past The Post system as our electoral system since we
became a democracy. Whilst this system works for us, there are many systems that we could use,
these being: Closed Party List, AMS, STV and Supplementary Vote. All these have various strengths
and weaknesses to them.
First Past the Post is the system we currently use in the UK, but whilst some may enjoy this system,
there are limitations to this system. Perhaps the strongest criticism of the system is that it does not
proportionally reflect the voting of the people. What is meant by this is that a party may receive less
proportion of seats in the General Election than ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Additional Member system is able to combine both First Past The Post and Proportional
representation. A proportion of sets is awarded through FPTP, while the rest are awarded on a
regional list system. The electorate is able to vote for a constituency candidate, and a party as well.
Therefore some of the elected representatives have a constituency to look after, whilst other do not.
The rest are allocated on a proportional basis. AMS is used in the UK for the elections for the
Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales and the London Assembly. The main
advantages to this system is that there is a fair degree of proportionality to the votes cast and that
voters can vote for both candidates and parties. However, seeing as this party would seeem intitially
to be the ideal voting system, there are strong disadvantages which limit its potential. Perhaps the
most obvious one is that it fails to provide a majority very often. For example, when used for the
London Assembly in 2012, Labour gained 12 seats, the most for a single party, and the
Conservatives gained 9, however Labour were still not able to gain a majority of seats as the Green
Party and Liberal Democrats won 2 each, showing that if this was used for the general elections, we
would end up with another coalition.
Another voting system used is the Single Transferable Vote System. The idea is that people vote just
for the candidates and not parties. Several candidates are put up in a

Should Extremist Groups Be Allowed? Have A Voice?
Literature review Should extremist groups be allowed to have a voice in EU politics? Who are their
leaders? / Who are the current right wing extreme parties? / What are their policies? / Who votes for
the extreme parties?/ What are the electoral systems?/ Who are the current extreme parties? Daily
mail – Content.Time.com–Europa.EU 08/09/15 The B.N.P believes that we should leave the E.U
and they would also pay all none whites to go back to their country of origin. S.V.P is completely
anti–immigrant. Northern League Northern Alliance would allow cost guards to shoot traffickers.
How many extreme parties are there? There are 16 extreme parties in the E.U, two of which are in
power, a few threatening but most are completely disregarded. Who are their leaders? Jörg Haider
(F.P.O) Frank Vanhecke (V.B) Pia Kjaersgaard (DPP) Jean–Marie Le Pen (FN) Makis Voridis
(Hellenic Front) Nick Griffin(B.N.P) What are the B.N.P Policies on immigration: B.N.P Home
website 08/10/2015 "Britain is full and it's time to shut our doors" Leave the E.U and take control of
our borders. Deport bogus asylum seekers. Crack down on illegal immigration. No amnesty for
illegal immigrants. Crack down on sham marriages. Who votes for extremist parties? Here are some
studies on who votes for extreme parties Demographic Characteristic Left–Wing groups Right wing
groups Age Average age:35 Average age 39 Sex 73% male 27% female 93% male 7% female Race
29%

The Marginalization of Minority Groups in The Electoral...
The marginalization of minority groups in the electoral system impedes a comprehensive
representation by further entrenching and aggravating ethnic division. The lack of minority
representation in political–decision making has limited the ability of a true representative democracy
to come into fruition. The inconsistency of elected assemblies mirroring the population has
decreased the representation of ethnic minorities and deepened the racial and ethnic cleavages.
Reforming the electoral system to accommodate proportional representation will not only enhance
interethnic relations, but also ensure that racial, ethnic, and social diversity is reflected in national
leadership. This paper will aim to create to create a strong electoral system ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Having a strong, efficient electoral system is essential for instituting a framework of governance that
guarantees the protection of a citizen's constitutional liberties and, their "right to have a voice in how
they are governed." Due to the complexity of creating and electoral system, many factors must be
taken into consideration to administer an effective and sustainable system of government, such as
the historical and social circumstances of that society. This society is not in need of rapid decision
making legislature or a unified, decisive executive leadership, but a proportional representation that
reflects minority interests. In a society with minority cleavages that entrench social divisions, a
proportional representation under a parliamentary system is indispensable. From this, national
leadership will not only mirror ethnic and social diversity, but also further the continuation of
democracy. In this regime, the only democratic institution is the parliament, where the government's
authority is contingent upon parliamentary confidence. While some political scientists ascertain that
a parliamentary system fails to create a strong, stable executive, it will generate consensus and
coalition building that is vital to enhancing the voice of minorities in the legislature. Arend Lijphart
validates this by arguing that proportional representation, unlike a

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Electoral System
The Oxford Dictionary (Oxforddictionaries.com, 2016) defines an election as "a formal and
organised choice by vote of a person for a political office or other position". This is the same in all
democratic countries, however, no two countries have the exact same procedure for carrying out
elections. There are many ways in which elections can differ from state to state, for example, does
the entire population have the same choice of people to vote for or is the voting based on
constituencies, or are people voting for individuals or a whole party. The variation between them lies
within the electoral systems employed in each of these countries. Electoral systems are simply the
rules of elections and how they are conducted. "The electoral system affects the type and level of
interaction between politicians and constituents" (PR STV and localism in Irish politics, 2011).
In Ireland, since gaining independence in 1922, representatives of Dáil Eireann have been elected by
proportional representation by single transferable vote (Gallagher, 2016). In 1937 it was set out in
Bunreacht na hEireann that "Dail Eireann shall be composed of members who represent
constituencies ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This representation can sometimes mean a member of the Dáil prioritises the good of their own local
people instead of what is best for the state. Candidates in the general election have to make certain
promises to their community in the hopes of being elected and if elected have to do their best to
ensure they will be re–elected by keeping their supporters content. This may not seem like such a
negative effect at first but it can result in "a parliament, weakened by its members' lack of focus on
national issues, and thereby unable to fully hold the government to account" (PR STV and localism
in Irish politics,

Electoral System And Representation Of Representation,...

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