voting systems

• the advantages of first past the post 


  it has one clear winner

  it has one mp

  it has by elections

  keeps extremist parties out of power
• benifits of one clear winner

  means people will know who is in power with a majority the government are more likely to keep the promises made during the elections
• benifits of one mp

  means voters know who to go to

  means they are also more likely to bring up any issues or problems
• benifits of by elections

  voters get a say in who represents them

  party doesnt replace the mp with another they may not like or feel represented by.
• benefits of keeping extremist parties out of power

  FPTP results in extremist parties staying out of power

  this is due to the majority choosing not to vote for them creating a fairer society
• example for one clear winner

  in the last 10 general elections fptp has produced 8 majority govts

  along with 1 coalition and one minority
• example for one mp

  edinburgh east mp tommy shepard holds a surgery every 3rd saturday of the month where individuals can bring up issues or questions
• examples for by elections

  june 2021 by election held in tiverton and honinton

  this was after neil parish resigned after getting caught watching pornography in the house of commons

  voters then swayed from toris to lib dems
• example of extremist parties out of power

  in 2019 BNP put forward 1 and in 2017 put forward 10 candidates for elections and won 0 seats
• what are the disadvantages of FPTP

  FPTP hinders small parties

  hinders women

  encourages tactical voting

  it is a two party system
• hindering smaller parties


  individuals may choose not to vote as they feel their vote will be wasted as they are voting for smaller parties

  in the long term it may reduce turnouts in the future
• negative of fptp hindering women


  if enough women are not represented in parliment issues regardig women can be brought up less and women will be less likely to bring them up to male representatives especially if it regards women
• fptp encouraging tactical voting


  individuals may vote for a party they do not support as it can prevent other parties from winning
• fptp being a two party system

  not everyones vote counts as there isnt a diverse range of political beleifs in uk politics

  labour and toris are on opposite sides of the spectrum

  therefore a policy set by one of the parties can be turned over if the other gets in power
• evidence for fptp hindering smaller parties

  in 2019 general election green party gained 2.7% of vote share but gained only 1 seat
• evidence for fptp hindering women

  in 2019 election only 35% of women were MPs despite making up 51% of the population
• evidnce of fptp tactical voting

  you gov survey found that 1 in 3 tactically voted in 2019 election
• evidence for 2 party system

  according to electoral reform society 22.6 million of the 32 million votes did not count towards the final results in the 2019 general election
• what are the advantages for the AMS system

  AMS produces multiple mps for multiple regions

  AMS usually creates coalition governments

  AMS helps smaller parties

  AMS increases female representation
• why is producing multiple MPs benificicial


  constituents are given multiple MPs to choose from who they can visit increasing the chance of one of them having similar views
• coalition govt benifits


  This means one party cannot force opinions on the people

  coalitions create consensus and agreements on policies
• helping smaller parties benifits

  Voters of smaller parties feel their vote matters more and are more likely to get a rep of a smaller party through the second ballot. this can also increase turnouts in the future
• benifits for increasing female representation

  women are more likely to bring up issues they feel regard women and they feel much better represented

  long term means issues are more likely to be improves and can also improve gender inequality
• evidence for producing multiple MPs

  constituents from edinburgh eastern can visit ash reagan or any of the 7 regional MSPs
• evidence for creating coalition governments

  despite winning the first majority in 2011 the SNP formed a minority govt in 2016
• evidence for helping smaller parties

  across scotland the green party had 8.1% vote share in 2021 parliment election

  greens won no constituency seats but gained 8 seats in the 2nd votes
• evidence for increasing female representation

  the scottish parliment has 47 female MSPs which make up 45% whereas the uk parliment has 220 which makes up 34%
• list the disadvantages of AMS

  2nd ballots dont know who your voting for

  coalition govts are more likely

  system is not truly proportional

  AMS weakens the govt
• 2nd ballots dont know who your voting for

  voters may not like the regional msp chosen by the party

  this may have made them change their vote

  means they are not fairly repsresented
• coalition govts may be more likely (diasadvantage)


  forces 2 different parties to work together

  meaning one will have to compromise on policies which results in poor representation
• system is not truly proportional


  more proportional than fptp but not 100 percent

  this is due to AMS splitting scotland into regions

  some parties gain slightly more seats in each region than the number of votes they get that can add up to better results
• AMS weakens the government

  system will almost always result in party of the govt seeking support from smaller parties

  this makes them weaker having to make deals and compromises + deals to gain support

  often smaller parties are more powerfull than the bigger ones
• evidence for 2nd ballots not knowing who your voting for

  Alison Johnstone lost constituency seats but won seat in scottish parliment as he was on top of the greens regional list seat

  majority of edi central did not want her as an MSP
• evidence for coalition govt more likely (disadvantage)

  SNP formed minority govt in 2021

  had to strike up a power sharing agreement with the green party meaning they can influence plans for legeslation
• evidence for not being truly proportional

  2021 lib dems (6%) vote greens (5%) votes lib dems had 4 fewer seats than the greens
• evidence for weakening govt

  greens gained only 5% of thr votes in 2016 bute are directly working with the SNP 50% of votes and telling them what to do at times if they wanted a chance of passing/legeslation