Electoral Systems

Overview: Before lunch

Majoritarian and consensus democracy? Varieties of electoral systems:

Winner-take-all Proportional representation Mixed

Dimensions for evaluating institutions Normative Positive

Endogenous electoral rules

Overview: After lunch

The complex relationship between social cleavages, issue preferences, electoral systems, and party systems

Lijphart Westminster Consensus Democracy   1) Concentrated executive power Power sharing in the executive (coalition)   2) Cabinet DominanceExecutive/Legislative Balance   3) 2-party Multiparty   4) Plurality Elections Proportional Representation   5) Pluralist interest groups Corporatism, peak associations, etc.   6) Unitary Decentralized   7) Unicameral legislature Strong Bicameralism   8) Constitutional FlexibilityConstitutional Rigidity   9) No judicial review Strong role for judicial review   10) Central Bank controlled by Central Bank independence executive

SMDP Systems

A single-member district plurality (SMDP) system is one in which individuals cast a single vote for a candidate in a single-member district. The candidate with the most votes wins.

Examples: United Kingdom, India, Canada, Nigeria, Zambia

How does SMDP work?

The Alternative Vote

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/interactive/2010/may/10/proportional-representation-alternative-vote-plus

Two-Round SystemsA two-round system (TRS) has the potential for two rounds of elections.

Candidates or parties are automatically elected in the first round if they obtain a specified level of votes, typically an absolute majority.

If no candidate or party wins this level of votes, then a second round of elections takes place.

Those candidates or parties that win the most votes in the second round are elected.

Who would win Aberconwy under TRS?

Two-Round Systems

Examples: Most presidential elections in Latin

America French legislative and presidential

elections

Proportional Electoral Systems

A proportional, or proportional representation, electoral system is a quota- or divisor-based electoral system employed in multimember districts.

The rationale behind PR systems is to produce a proportional translation of votes into seats.

Proportional electoral systems can be divided into those that use party lists and those that do not.

Proportional Representation How would a PR system work in the

UK?

Votes and Seats, May 2010

List PR

In a list PR system, each party presents a list of candidates for a multimember district.

Parties receive seats in proportion to their overall share of the votes.

These seats are then shared among candidates on the list in various ways.

List PR

List PR systems differ in important ways:1. The precise formula used to allocate seats to parties2. The district magnitude3. The use of electoral thresholds4. The type of party list employed.

Divisors, etc.

Some are more proportional, some more friendly to larger parties

District Magnitude

However, the key variable for determining the proportionality of an electoral system is the district magnitude.

The district magnitude is the number of representatives elected in a district.

The larger the district magnitude, the greater the degree of proportionality.

District Magnitude

Although all PR systems use multimember districts, the average size of these districts can vary quite a lot.

In the Netherlands and Slovakia, the average district magnitude is 150.In Chile, the average district magnitude is 2.

Additional details about PR Thresholds (e.g. Germany) Open vs. Closed Lists

Types of Party List

In a closed party list, the order of candidates elected is determined by the party itself, and voters are not able to express a preference for a particular candidate.

In an open party list, voters can indicate not just their preferred party but also their favored candidate within that party.

Closed Party List

The electoral formula determines how many seats a party wins.

In a closed list system, these party seats are allocated according to the order of the party list.

Example: If a party wins 10 seats, then the top 10 candidates on the party list are elected.

Open Party List

The electoral formula determines how many seats a party wins.

In an open list system, these party seats are allocated according to whichever party candidates win the most votes.

Example: If a party wins 10 seats, then the top 10 vote-winners on the party list are elected.

Closed versus open list

Implications?

Mixed Electoral Systems

An electoral tier is a level at which votes are translated into seats.

The lowest electoral tier is the district level. Higher tiers are constituted by grouping together lower tier constituencies; they are typically at the regional or national level.

Many mixed electoral systems have multiple electoral tiers, with majoritarian formulas used in a lower tier and proportional formulas used in a higher tier.

So what?Dimensions for evaluating electoral institutions

Dimensions for analyzing democratic institutions Protection of liberty

Protection of minorities Decisiveness, especially under stress Credibility of commitments Stability Quality of democracy

Representativeness Accountability Rent-seeking and corruption

Dimensions for analyzing democratic institutions (cont.)

Public versus private goods Broad versus targeted programs and

expenditures The extent of redistribution Budget deficits Size of government as a share of

GDP

Protection of liberty

PR and minorities

Decisiveness?

Are coalition governments less decisive?

What about minority governments?

Credibility of commitments? Again, coalition versus single-party

government

Stability

Weimar Germany?

Quality of Democracy

Representativeness

What can go wrong under PR? What can go wrong under SMDP?

Accountability

Clarity of responsibility How important are districts?

Corruption

Barriers to entry Party lists

Public vs. private goods, broad vs. targeted policies Geography and marginal districts

Core support vs. swing district models. Do small districts encourage pork?

Endogenous electoral rules Functionalist arguments about social

heterogeneity Colonial and historical legacies Strategic elites

Boix Calvo Strategic fools?