Party Systems PDF

Party systems History part Cleavage part Dynamics part Elections are held because not all people can directly participate in the process of decision making = a link between people and their representative Electoral is the system to transform votes to seat Election provides for legitimacy by achie...

Party systems History part Cleavage part Dynamics part Elections are held because not all people can directly participate in the process of decision making = a link between people and their representative Electoral is the system to transform votes to seat Election provides for legitimacy by achieving representation and accountability Elections have also the purpose of forming a government Electoral system and theory of democracy ( Seiler, 2000) See -> table In powerpoint governing democracy: Collective decision = stable governmental majority Promoting the governmental majority Bipolar parlements Single party government or stable coalition Complete but not always frequent Representative governments: Ensuring social cohesion Consensus Ensuring representation Multipolar Post electoral coalition The electoral system Conversion vote to seat Two types: Majoritarian systems: voters select from two or more candidates running for a single seat constituency, and the candidate receiving the majority of votes is the winner Pr systems: voters choose from among party lists and parties receiving a sufficient proportion of votes are awarded seats based on their share of the votes Types of electoral systems Find table in pw Majoritarian system 1. Plurality/ majority - One member elected per district - The candidate with the most votes wins - Voters select one candidate on the ballot - FPTP is very simple and is applied in single member districts and is largely candidate centred voting - Primarily found in the uk and countries that have been historically linked with great brintain - It is the most votes that wins an election not the majority of the votes, the labour party of the UK won 35% of the vote - USA,UK;India,Canada,Bangladesh Advantages: - Simple - Clear choices between constituents and MPS Criticism - Excludes smaller parties - Can lead to exclusion of ethnic minorities - Dependent on electoral boundaries (gerrymandering) Two rounds system (TRS) - similar to fptp, candidates require absolute majority - First round of FPTP voting, if someone gets a majority, he wins - If not, some candidates may be eliminated, and a second vote takes place  2. Block vote - Multi member’s district - Voter gets as many votes as there are candidates- can use all, some or none - “x” number of candidates with highest vote totals elected Party block vote - Multi-member districts - Parties build lists of candidates - Voters choose party list not an individual - Party list gets elected Advantages - Simple - Encourages strong parties - May facilitate minority representation Critcisim - Complete with pw 3. Alternative vote (AV) - Single members systems - Voters rank candidates’ preferences - If candidates secure an absolute majority of first choice, election end Advantages - Candidates must qseek first and second votes of voters - Can encourage compromise - Avoids “tactical voting in FPTP Criticism - Complex/ requires higher level of literacy - Doesn’t work well with larger, multi member districits Proportional system Proprotionaly = translation of votes into seats Preferct proportionality: X% vote = X% seats 1. List PR - Competing lists of candidtates - Representation in the legislature per party approximates the percentages of the vote each party receives Single transferable vote (STV) - Voters use preferential ballots to rank candidates in multi-members constituencies - Candidates that surpass the necessary threshold are elected. “Surplus votes” are then transferred to other candidates to elect Advantages - Proportionality - Encourage formation of parties - Facilitate diverse representation Disadvantages - Coalition governments, which can be unstable - Small parties have disproportionate power - Accountability  2. Proportional representation systems: List PR - Multi-members districts - Parties create candidate lists - Voter selects a party - Parties are allocated seats based on percentage of vote received - Open or close list of candidates  Open: you vote for party, and you choose the members, close is just the choice for the party, in open case, candidate will have more power than in a close case who party will have more leadership power - Thresholds are very important  Tresholds is a tool to add disproportional into proportional, threshold works as an excluding tool because, the minority party will be dependent of the threshold: for example if there is 3 party who have less than 5% and the threshold is according to 5%, those party who represent a part of the population, smaller that it is, but they will not have seat in parliament in cause to this threshold Advantages - Reflect proportionality - Allows smaller parties to compete - Minority and women’s quotas -> complet with pw Proportional representation systems: single transferable vote ( STV) Multi members districts Result throught series of vote counts If no one gets quota, candidate with lowest  Complet pw Adventges - voters choose individuales and parties Fairy proportional results Strznghens party constituent connection Ciriticiqsm Complex/ requires Complet pw Mixed systems Mixes member proportional (MMP) Combines the geographical representation of single member districts with additional adjustment or compensatory seats allocated I terms of proportional representation Parralel systems Similarly combines single member complet with pw Electoral systems II Part one electoral systems are the independent variable, preexisting social structure Duverger and its three laws: -> think elec is independent variable - Plurality -> bi-partisan (UK)) - Majoritarian -> two turns system -> two blocs multi-partism (France) - Proportional -> multiparty system (Belgium) When we have proportionality, we will have plurality Lavau -> dependent variable - The electoral system is a minor variable - The electoral system is the result of social and political conditions, and not the reverse e.g : France pre and post 1957 -> transition from the fourth to the fifth republic -> new election mechanics, majoritarian with two rounds - from 22 prime ministers between 1959 and 1959 to 22C prime minister between 1959 to 2018 election 1951 : republican front coalition of 7 party 1968: UDR( gaulist) : single party governments with 293 seats of 487 Mechanical effect: - Electoral formula PR>maj>FPTP  - Magnitude of constituencies/ district For pr, the higher the magnitude, the higher the proportionality -> mathematical effect : small districts , the higher the disproportionality will be - Thresholds The higher the tresholds, the lower of proportionality The psychological effect of the electoral system On parties and candidates - Fewer competitors when maj - More alliance - More catch-all parties when maj and motre ideological parties (niche parties) when Pr - Lower partisan cohesion when proportional with several candidates of the same party (open list) -> there will be competition between politicians who came from the same party during voting where in close list it will happen before ballot On voters  Maj: strategics (voting for a bigger party because small ones have less probability to win vs Sincere vote  Pr: strategic vote when tresholds are present The effect of ballot The effects of the structure of the ballot Impact on election campaigns - More contacts with citizens if candidate-centred Impact on citizen-elected relations - More linkage if candidate-centred Impact on partisan discipline - Leszs party discipline if candidate-centred Effect of the voting system on the quality of democracy  - Quick government formation - More stable government - 32;9 month for maj vs 21;2 months for pr - Higher participation rates: pr 82,12% vs maj 77.6% vs plur 73.6% Form of government Semi-president system - Double popular legitmacy of the president and parliament - Separation of powers between president and government - The president shall appoint and dismiss the government - The parliament controls the action of the government - Apart from the reserved areas of the president, the principle is that of the parliamentary system  Effect of cohabition No cohabitation - Semi presidential regim with predominant presidenatial features ( president is the most  Complet pw Legislative power Bicameralism: national assembly/ senate - National assembly: 577 direct elected representatives in single-members constituencies Complet pw Electoral system majoritarian Two turns Division into 577 single-members constieucnies Effe: - High disproportionality ( but pr for European elections) - Clear government -< complet pw E.G French governments 2017 Second turn system makes a big majority and that’s represent a stable representation of people decision -> check schema assembly 2024 There happened that any huge majority emerged, there was only minority with a less numbers of seats represented in assembly. In the beginning, there was two big parties so it was easier to have a great clear majority, nowadays there is to many parties of have a equa part of vote, it seems more like a representative system than a majoritarian system E.G Nederland’s Parliament is the central institution of political life Parliament is the only body with direct popular legitimacy Parliament is changing of legislative function  Complet pw Ndls is A consensual system - The heart of the political game is party cooperation - Several cleavages in society - Each party defends specific interests and groups Legislative power Bicameralism : erest Kamer / tweed kamer Earste Kamer : Executive power Dual executive Coalition government  Complet There usually doesn’t’t happen when a huge majority is created, is in most of time a more than 50% and less than 60% in Moyenne. Electoral system It’s an extrem case of representation Proportional representation Single constituency Voting for candidates in closed Trtesholds : 0.66 % In this representative system, the representation is completely respected, there is a lot of minority parties how have a seat in the assembly  But it causes a very high division of the assembly  Cause more instability with a more ephemera majority E.G Germany -> complet with pw Form of government Parliament is the central institution of the country Parli Legislative Bicameralism In the same ballot, they have two choicie to do  Mixed representative   First choice: they have to choose a candidate  Second choice: they have to choose a party -> majoritarian vote -> make a proportional quota  Close list with small number of candidates Second choice use first to distributing seats in assembly First choice use to reajuste Ex 50 seats for a party but 55 people elected for the party Assembly will have his number of seats increasing India e.g