Electoral systems

• First past the post is an electoral system where the person with the highest number of votes is elected. Victory is achieved by having one or more votes than other contenders - a plurality system
• Additional member system - a hybrid electroal system that has two components or elements. The voter makes two choices. Firstly, the voter selects a representative on a simple plurality system then a second vote is apportioned to a party list for a second or additional representative
• How to judge electoral systems

  • Voter choice
  • Represenation and proportionality
  • Links between representative and represented
  • Type of government
• Functions of elections

  • representation
  • Choose a government
  • Holding a government and representative to account
  • Particpation and influence over policy
• FPTP is used in UK general elections and local council elections in england and wales

  • Voters cast a single vote by placing a cross next to the preferred candidate in their constituency
  • 650 constituencies
  • Simple plurality system
  • Each General election is at the discretion of the prime minster but they take place every 5 years.
• Advantages of FPTP - speed and simplicity

  • 1997, Tony blair arrived at downing street as the new prime minster at 1pm on the day after the election
  • In 2019, the first consitituency result was announced at 23:36 on the day of the election
  • The simplicity and familairity of FPTP can be seen as key factors in the public support for it as show in the 2011 alternative vote referendum, in which 68% of those who votes againsted changing the electoral system on a 42% turnout
• Advantages of FPTP - Strong, single party governments

  • Promotes a two party system that gives voters a clear choice and usually results in a clear majority for one party, which then has a strong mandate to carry out its programme of government and bring out effective change. This clear choice also leads to government being accountable
  • 1980s - Thatcher brought widespread change in the economy, 1997 Tony blair mandate carried out extensive constitutional reforms
• Advantages of FPTP - Exclusion of extremist parties

  • Another benefit of FPTP is that is leads to the exclusion of extremist parties, who are much less likely to have success, as success under FPTP requires geographically concentrated support
  • In 2010, for example, the extreme right wing british national party won 2% of the national vote, but didnt finish higher than 3rd in any constituency
• Advantages of FPTP - MP constituency

  • Small size of most FPTP constituencies, and the fact that a single MP is a responsible for those who live within the constituency, result in effective representative of local interests and a strong link between the constituency and MP
  • In october 2022, 33 conservative MPs rebelled against Liz Truss government and abstained in a vote on banning fracking, despite the government ordering them to oppose it, including many MP mark fletcher of Bolsover which has a strong local movement against fracking in the area
• disadvantages of FPTP - Lack of representation

  Over a half of MPs typically don't command a majority of support within their constituency with more votes cast against a winning candidate than for them and even lower support when turnout is taken into account

  • 2015 Generaal election, Alasdair Mcdonnell of the SDLP won with just 24.5% of the vote in belfast south and only polled 14.7% of the electoral if the 60% turnout is taken into account
  • This weakens the mandate of each MP, leading to many voters feeling unrepresented and MPs lacking legitimacy
• What is a disadvantage of the FPTP electoral system?

  Lack of proportionality at the national level
• How does the lack of proportionality in FPTP affect voters?

  Many voters feel the system lacks legitimacy
• Why are candidates who come 2nd or 3rd not rewarded in FPTP?

  They do not receive any seats despite votes
• What effect does FPTP have on the support of the biggest party?

  It exaggerates their support in seats
• What percentage of seats did the Conservative party win in 2019?

  56%
• What percentage of votes did the Conservative party receive in 2019?

  43.6%
• What percentage of seats did Labour win in 2005?

  54.6%
• What percentage of votes did Labour receive in 2005?

  35.2%
• What are the key disadvantages of the FPTP electoral system?

  • Lack of proportionality at the national level
  • Voters feel the system lacks legitimacy
  • Candidates in 2nd/3rd place receive no reward
  • Exaggeration of support for the biggest party
• FPTP also favour parties whose vote is concentrated rather than spread out across a large geographical area

  • lib dems won 11.5% of the vote but just 11/650 seats which is 1.7% of the seats.
  • Contrasts with SNP who won 96% of scottish seats with just 50% of the vote.
• Limited voter choice in the FPTP system

  • Under FPTP, each party puts forward just one candidate, so there is no choice between different strands of the main parties, which are broad churches
  • Voters also only get one vote and therefore cant rank their preferences or reflect their political views more fully, as a system like AMS or STV allows
  • Votes for the party that doesnt win are wasted and leads to tactical voting by many voters
  • Yougov indicates that 32% of voters voted tactically in 2019 elections
• Ineffective choosing of governments

  • Single party government can be seen as negative, espeically as they dont command a majority of votes across the country and have major power in parliament, leading to huge changes being initiated by governments with limited legitimacy
  • FPTP has also recently failed to deliver single party, majority governments, with a coalition in 2010 and a minority government in 2017.
• Advantages of AMS

  • The top up party list element introduces an element of proportioanlity that corrects the disproportionality of FPTP and leads to a highly proportional system overall.
  • For example, in the 1999 Scottish parliament election the conservative party won 0 constituency MPs despite getting 15.6% of the vote, but won 18 additional member seats in order to correct this, leading to them receiving 14% of seats overall
  • 1997 - Conservative party received 17.5% of the vote but 0 seats.
• Advantages of AMS

  • The constituency element ensures a strong MP - constituency link remains
  • Voters have a wider choice than under FPTP. They can vote for a split ticket if they wish. Voting for one party for a representative and another on the top up vote.
  • Votes are less likely to be wasted
  • The worst predictions made by critics of proportional representation have not been fulfilled. Coalition governments in Scotland and wales have proved to be stable and there have not been frequent changes of government.
• AMS disadvantages

  • It creates two different types of members, some with constituency responsibilities and some without there is little evidence
  • Smaller assemblies, there are sometiems two few seats for the top up elements to correct the constituency element effectively and represent smaller parties, which receive less represenation than under a fully proportional system - 2021 Senedd election, for example, the green party won 1.6% of the constituency votes and 4.4% of the top up votes but no seats
• Disadvantages of AMS

  • A closed list system is used, meaning that the party leadership ranks candidates in order on the list. It can use this power to limit the chances of dissident members of the party being elected, therefore giving the party a great amount of power and making it harder for parties to be broad churches
  • AMS is more likely to lead to minority and coalition governments, which can be seen as weak - 6 scottish governments since devolution, 3 have been coalition governments, whilst 2 have been minority governments.
• STV

  • STV is used in elections for the northern ireland assembly and scottish council
  • Multi - member constituences, in the case of the NI assembly there are 18 each returning 5 members
  • Voters number their choices preferentially
  • In order to be elected, a candidate needs to achieve a quote, arrived at using the Droop formula
• STV advantages

  • STV is highly proportional system, with a very close correlation between votes and seats
  • voter choice is very high
  • Northern Ireland, it has created power sharing governments which allows representatives of the two rival communities to work together, helping to end 30 years of the troubles. These governmetns als always have majority support
  • This is the same in scottish local elections - 2022 elections 94% of counciles had no overall control. IN 2oo3 when socttish elections still used FPTP, only 38% of counciles had no overall control
• What is a disadvantage of STV in large multi-member constituencies?

  The member-constituency link may be weak
• Why might power-sharing governments still experience conflict?

  Rival groups may come together but remain prone to conflict
• How many times has the NI executive been suspended?

  Several times
• How did STV affect centrist parties in the long term?

  STV didn't help them in the long term
• What is a disadvantage of the vote counting process in STV?

  Counting votes is slow and difficult to understand
• What is "donkey voting" in the context of STV?

  Voting for candidates based on alphabetical order
• In the 2019 local elections in Northern Ireland, how often was the first candidate elected?

  85% of the time
• What percentage of the time was the second candidate elected in the 2019 local elections?

  54% of the time
• What are the main disadvantages of the STV electoral system?

  • Weak member-constituency link in large constituencies
  • Power-sharing governments prone to conflict
  • Slow vote counting and difficult results
  • Donkey voting leading to biased outcomes
• SV

  • Used in london mayor elections as well as police and crime commisioners - now scrapped
• SV advantages

  • Ensures broad support for the winner - Sadiq khan has the largest mandate
  • Gives voters greater choice than fptp
  • Allowed some indepedent candidates to win
• SV disadvantages

  • Winner doesnt need to get an absolute majority of the votes cast
  • To have influence over the outcome, voters need to be able to identify the likely top two candidates which isnt always clear, with the exeception of london
  • The least unpopular candidares are more likely to win. rather than the most popular
  • If SV was used for the constituencies in UK parliament elections, the problem would still remain of votes for candidates that dont win being wasted