Representation and Elections Lecture Notes PDF

21 November 2024 Representation and elections! 1  21 November 2024 Theories of representation Trusteeship: associated with Edmund Burke. Once elected, representatives...

21 November 2024 Representation and elections! 1  21 November 2024 Theories of representation Trusteeship: associated with Edmund Burke. Once elected, representatives exercise independent judgement on the grounds that most people do not know their own best interests Delegate: representatives convey the views of others, while having little or no capacity to exercise their own independent judgement Mandate: in winning an election, a party gains authority to implement the policies it outlined during the election campaign Resemblance: propounds the idea that a representative government should constitute a microcosm of larger society 2  21 November 2024 Elections Elections can take very different forms, depending on the answers to the following: which offices or posts are subject to the elective principle? who is entitled to vote; how widely is the franchise drawn? how are votes cast? are elections competitive or non-competitive? how is the election conducted? 3  21 November 2024 Functions of elections Recruitment of politicians Making governments Providing representation Influencing policy Educating voters Building legitimacy Strengthening elites 4  21 November 2024 Variance in electoral systems The rules governing elections vary in a number of ways: Voters may be asked to choose between candidates or between parties Voters may either select a single candidate, or vote preferentially, ranking the candidates they wish to support in order The electorate may or may not be grouped into electoral units or constituencies Constituencies may return a single member or a number of members The level of support needed to elect a candidate varies from a plurality to an overall or ‘absolute’ majority, or a quota of some kind 5 21 November 2024 6  21 November 2024 Majoritarian electoral systems „Trusteeship apporach to elections Electors vote in Single Member Constituencies (SMDs) Representation of a constituency Two-party systems, non-coalition governments Advantages: local accountability, clear governmental responsability Disadvantages: disproportionate, no minority representation, underrepresentation of smaller parties 7  21 November 2024 Majoritarian Systems First Past the Post / Single-member plurality system The country is divided into single-member constituencies, usually of equal size Voters select a single candidate, usually marking his or her name with a cross on the ballot paper The winning candidate needs only to achieve a plurality of votes (the ‘first past the post’ rule) Absolute Majority/Second ballot system There are single-candidate constituencies and single-choice voting, as in the single- member plurality (SMP) system To win on the first ballot, a candidate needs an overall majority of the votes cast If no candidate gains a first-ballot majority, a second, run-off ballot is held between the leading two candidates 8  21 November 2024 Majoritarian system Alternative/supplementary vote There are single-member constituencies There is preferential voting. In AV, voters rank the candidates in order of preference: 1 for their first preference, 2 for their second preference and so on. In SV, there is only a single ‘supplementary’ vote Winning candidates must gain 50 per cent of all the votes cast Votes are counted according to the first preferences. If no candidate reaches 50 per cent, the bottom candidate is eliminated and his or her votes are redistributed according to the second (or subsequent) preferences. This continues until one candidate has a majority. In SV, all candidates drop out except the top two 12 21 November 2024 13  21 November 2024 Proportional systems Party-list system Resemblance approach to elections Either the entire country is treated as a single constituency, or, in the case of regional party lists, there are a number of large multimember constituencies. Parties compile lists of candidates to place before the electorate, in descending order of preference. Electors vote for parties, not for candidates. Parties are allocated seats in direct proportion to the votes they gain in the election. They fill these seats from their party list. 14  21 November 2024 Proportional systems Party-list system A ‘threshold’ may be imposed (5 per cent in Germany) to exclude small, possibly extremist, parties from representation. Multiparty systems, coalition governments Advantages: proportional representation, representation of minorities and smaller parties Disadvantages: blurred accountability, 15  21 November 2024 The characteristics of proportional systems District magniuted Methods of mandate distribution 21 November 2024 Larger remainder systems - Quota methods (Hare, Droop...) Highest average systems (d’Hondt, Sainte-Lague) Electoral treshold 16  21 November 2024 District magnitude District magnitude =number of mandates distributed in a district District magnitude: Same number of mandates in each districts – districts should be defined accordingly Different number of mandates in each district – magniuted should be defined accordingly 17  P Q= P Q S= S 21 November 2024 Quota tpyes Hare-quota 𝑄 𝑃 Hagenbach-Bischoff quota 𝑄 𝑃+1 Imperiali quota 𝑄 𝑃+2 19  21 November 2024 Highest average methods Viktor d’Hondt: 1880s, Belgium to accomodate differences Jefferson method (proposed by jefferson to use at 1792 USA House of Representative election)) Each party's total number of votes is repeatedly divided, until all seats are filled, by the divisor 1 + the number of seats already allocated (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). Each division produces an average, and the list with the 'highest average vote' is awarded the first seat, the next highest the second seat, and so on, until all seats have been allocated 20  21 November 2024 Proportional systems Single-transferable-vote system There are multimember constituencies, each of which usually returns between three and eight members Parties may put forward as many candidates as there are seats to fill Electors vote preferentially, as in the alternative vote system Candidates are elected, if they achieve a quota. This is the minimum number of votes needed to elect the stipulated number of candidates, calculated according to the Droop formula The votes are counted according to first preferences. If not all the seats are filled, the bottom candidate is eliminated. His or her votes are redistributed according to second preferences and so on, until all the seats have been filled FairVote 22  21 November 2024 Mixed systems Mixed-member proportional system/additional member system A proportion of seats (50 per cent in Germany, but more in Italy, Scotland and Wales, for instance) are filled by using single-member constituencies The remaining seats are filled using the party-list system Electors cast two votes: one for a candidate in the constituency election, and the other for a party 23 Thank you for your attention! [email protected]