STRUCTURAL

• the USA uses 'electoral districts and states' through rewarding electoral boundaries for political advantage, certain groups may be targeted and denied effective representation
• we use the theory to look at the impact of electoral systems on political outcomes
• we can use the theory to examine how the electoral systems affect the role and influence of political parties
• the theory can allow us to investigate how electoral systems affect how much different groups in society are represented
• the USA employs a 'winner takes all' system where the candidate with the most votes wins the elections, regardless of whether they have a majority and leads to most states being dominated by a specific party
• UK GEs use FPTP which increase the likelihood of a two party system and can lead to disparities between the seats a party has and its share of the vote
• we can use the theory to look at how electoral systems shape voter beaviour
• In the USA the two party system means that third party candidates can have an impact on electoral outcomes through the 'spoiler effect'
• FPTP tends to encourage voters to use tactical voting rather than vote for the party candidates they most support because of wasted votes and the existence of safe seats
• in the UK, the theory can examine how FPTP system incentivises parties to build broad coalitions of voters and focus on marginal seats
• this incentivises candidates to focus on specific states called swing states or battleground states, where the outcomes of the election are less certain
• in the UK where FPTP is used in GEs, there tends to be a concentration of power around two larger parties. this means that smaller that represent minority groups struggle to win seats and have their voices represented