Electoral Systems Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Electoral systems, often referred to as voting systems, systematize the election of candidates for public office. Inherent in these systems are explicit rules for executing the voting process. These rules govern voting eligibility requirements for the populace, tabulation of the results, and voting methods. The electoral system specifies the type of ballot, the size of permissible votes, and the method for tabulating votes. These specifications are what distinguish one electoral system from another. Thus, elections in countries will vary as a result of the adopted electoral system.

Electoral systems can differ with regard to the manner in which individuals articulate their voting preferences. This mostly concerns the structure of the ballot. Electoral systems can be considered single-winner systems and multiple-winner systems. Single-winner systems elect a single person for an elected office, whereas multiple-winner systems produce elections that generate multiple winners. Several methods exist for achieving a single-winner system; the most popular are as follows. Voters participating in a ranked ballot system will rank order their preference for candidates from most preferred to least preferred. This method allows each voter to express his or her opinion about all public office candidates as a result of rank ordering. Alternately, range voting allows voters to rate or score each candidate individually along a prespecified range articulated by the voting system. The scores for each candidate for public office are tabulated, and the candidate with the greatest score is proclaimed the winner. Plurality voting, or first past the post, is most commonly used in the United States, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. This voting form specifies that the proclaimed winner is the candidate who wins the most votes, regardless of whether the vote is a majority of the votes. A variation of plurality voting exists in France, which specifies that if no candidate receives a majority vote, a second election occurs (a runoff election) between the two top vote-getting candidates to choose a winner. The most common methods used by single-winner systems are plurality and runoff voting.

Multiple-winner systems usually characterize elections for legislative bodies. In this instance, the concern is not necessarily which individuals get elected but how many seats the political party is able to secure. Therefore, the emphasis tends to be on the political party’s composition of the legislative body, whereas in single-winner systems the emphasis is more on the individual seeking election. Many multiple-winner systems seek the distribution of political power on the basis of proportional representation. Several methods exist under multiple-winner systems. These elections can be characterized as nonproportional, semiproportional, and proportional representation. Nonproportional elections are illustrated as elections by list in which voters cast their votes for a list of candidates and the list of candidates that receives the majority of votes wins all the contested seats. Ecuador uses such a system in allocating seats in its legislature. Alternatively, semi proportional elections strive to achieve proportional results; however, there is no guarantee of this result. This is illustrated by single nontransferable votes in which each voter casts one vote for a candidate but more than one position exists; the candidate with the highest number of votes wins the office. The result can be proportional but may also result in nonproportional representation. Jordan,Thailand, and Indonesia use this method for allocating seats. Last, proportional representation guarantees proportional results by employing a party list system in most cases. Voters cast votes for parties rather than individual office seekers. Proportional representation attempts to achieve comparable results between the percentage of votes for a list of candidates and the actual percentage of seats they receive.

The candidate lists for which voters cast their votes can be either open lists or closed lists. Open lists allow voters to determine which candidates on the list win the open seats, whereas closed lists do not offer voters the same flexibility because the parties assign candidates to the seats on a predetermined basis. Nations that allocate seats based on proportional representation usually have more political parties, and it is difficult for a single party to achieve majority status; therefore, coalition government is common. An example of a country that uses a system of proportional representation based on party lists is Israel.

Bibliography:

Diamond, Larry Jay, and Marc F. Plattner, eds. Electoral Systems and Democracy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006.
Farrell, David M. Electoral Systems: A Comparative Introduction. New York: St. Martin’s, 2001.
Gallagher, Michael, and Paul Mitchell. The Politics of Electoral Systems. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Klingemann, Hans-Dieter. The Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2009.
Lijphart, Arend. Electoral Systems and Party Systems: A Study of Twenty-seven Democracies, 1945–1990. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Taagapera, Rein, and Matthew S. Shugart. Seats and Votes: The Effects and Determinants of Electoral Systems. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1989.