An election is a device for filling an

An election is a device for filling an office or post through choices made by a designated body of people, the electorate. Electorate - voters

The principle of the separation of power can be found in the writings of Locke (1632– 1704) but was more fully elaborated by Montesquieu (1689– 1775). The separation of powers is one of the classic means of fragmenting government *power in order to defend liberty and keep tyranny at bay. An important feature of liberal *constitutionalism, its advantages are that it both cuts the power of any branch of government down to size and establishes a network of internal tensions that ensure that the exercise of power is never unchecked. This is evident in Richard Neustadt’s (1980) description of the US system as ‘separated institutions sharing powers’.

Democratic elections are conducted according to the following principles: universal adult suffrage (however ‘adult’ is defined); one person one vote, one vote one value; the secret ballot; and electoral choice offered by competition between both candidates and *political parties.

the right to vote is restricted on grounds such as property ownership, education, gender or racial origin; a system of plural voting is in operation or constituency sizes vary significantly; voters are subject to pressure or intimidation; or only a single candidate or single party can contest the election.

The conventional view is that elections, when they are fair and competitive, are a mechanism through which politicians can be called to account and forced to introduce policies that somehow reflect public opinion. This emphasises the ‘bottom-up’ (снизу вверх) functions of elections. In this view elections are the major source of political recruitment, a means of making *governments and of transferring government *power, a guarantee of *representation, and a major determinant of government *policy.

On the other hand, the ‘radical’ view of elections portrays them as largely a mechanism through which governments and political elites can exercise control over their populations. This view emphasises the ‘topdown’ (сверху вниз) functions of elections. These are that they have the capacity to build *legitimacy for the regime, to enable the government to ‘educate’ the electorate and shape public opinion, and to neutralise political discontent and opposition by channelling them in a constitutional direction.

In reality, however, elections have no single character: they are neither simply mechanisms of public *accountability nor a means of ensuring political control. Like all channels of political communication, elections are a ‘two-way street’ that provide the government and the people, the elite and the mass, with the opportunity to influence one another.

Majoritarian systems enable larger parties to win a significantly higher proportion of seats than the proportion of votes they gain in the election. This increases t Much of the debate about elections centres upon the merits of different electoral systems, and in particular the choice between majoritarian and proportional systems.

Мажоритарная избирательная система при которой избранными считаются кандидаты, получившие большинство голосов избирателей по избирательному округу, где они баллотируются. При проведении выборов по пропорциональной системе депутатские мандаты распределяются между списками кандидатов пропорционально голосам, поданным за списки кандидатов, если эти кандидаты преодолели процентный барьер.

Majoritarian systems enable larger parties to win a significantly higher proportion of seats than the proportion of votes they gain in the election. This increases the chances of a single party gaining a parliamentary majority and being able to govern on its own.

Examples of majoritarian systems include the simple plurality system (‘first-past-thepost’), the second ballot system and the alternative vote (AV). Proportional systems guarantee an equal, or at least more equal, relationship between seats and votes. In a pure system of proportional representation (PR), a party that gains 45 per cent of the votes would win exactly 45 per cent of the seats. Examples of proportional systems include the party list system, single transferable vote (STV) and the additional member system (AMS).

Majoritarian systems have the advantage that they allow governments to be formed that have a clear *mandate from the electorate. They also increase the likelihood of strong and effective government, in that a single party usually has majority control of the *parliament, and produce stable government in that single-party governments rarely collapse through internal disunity.

In contrast, proportional systems are ‘fairer’ in that party representation is reliably linked to electoral support, and ensure that governments have broader and usually majority support amongst the electorate. Moreover, by increasing the likelihood of coalition government, they institutionalise checks on *power and encourage policy to be made through a process of bargaining and consensus-building.

The electoral systems debate is, at heart, a debate about the desirable nature of government, and about the respective merits of ‘representative’ government and ‘effective’ government. Finally, the impact of particular electoral systems will vary from *state to state, and possibly over time, depending upon factors such as the *political culture, the nature of the party system and the economic and social context within which politics is conducted.

A referendum is a vote in which the electorate can express a view on a particular issue of public *policy.

It differs from an *election in that the latter is essentially a means of filling a public office and does not provide a direct or reliable method of influencing the content of policy. The referendum is therefore a device of direct *democracy.

However, it is typically used not to replace representative institutions, but to supplement them. Referendums may either be advisory or binding; they may also raise issues for discussion, or be used to decide or confirm policy questions (propositions or plebiscites). Whereas most referendums are called by the government, initiatives (used especially in Switzerland California) are placed on the ballot through some form of popular petition.

However, referendums have always had a dual character. On the one hand, they are a form of popular government in that they give expression to ‘bottom-up’ pressures within the political system. On the other hand, they have been used as ‘top-down’ instruments of political control. This was clearest in the case of Hitler and other 1930 s dictators, who used plebiscites as a means of legitimising *dictatorship, but it has also applied to democratic politicians who wish to neutralise opposition within representative institutions.

they strengthen democracy by allowing the public to speak for themselves rather than through the inevitably distorted views of their representatives; they check the *power of elected governments, keeping them in line with public opinion between elections; they promote political participation, thus helping to create a more engaged and better-educated and -informed electorate; unlike elections they provide the public with a way of expressing their views about specific issues; they provide a means of settling major constitutional questions.

they place political decisions in the hands of those who have least education and experience, and are most susceptible to media and other influences; they provide, at best, only a snapshot of public opinion at one point in time; they allow politicians to absolve themselves of *responsibility for making difficult decisions; they enable leaders to manipulate the political agenda (especially when governments call referendums and can use public resources and their publicity machine to back their preferred outcome); they tend to simplify and distort political issues, reducing them to questions that have a simple yes/no answer.

A coalition is a grouping of rival political actors brought together either through the perception of a common threat, or the recognition that their goals cannot be achieved by working separately.

are alliances through which *political parties agree not to compete against one another with a view to maximising their joint *representation.

Legislative coalitions are agreements between two or more parties to support a particular bill or programme. Government coalitions are formal agreements between two or more parties that involve a cross-party distribution of ministerial portfolios. A ‘grand coalition’ or ‘national government’ comprises all the major parties, but they are usually formed only at times of national crisis or economic emergency.