Political Parties and Electoral Systems Political Parties

Political Parties and Electoral Systems.

Political Parties and Party Systems The Value of Political Parties – Parties “create democracy” and propose new policies. Parties serve voters by providing accountability and simplifying the decision making process and by bringing together politicians who share roughly similar views. ► Party Identification – This is defined as the attachment that individuals have to specific political parties. The less people identify with parties, the more fluid are elections results and changes in the party system. ► Party Systems § One-party systems – Single party control (China, North Korea) § One-party dominant systems – hegemonic control (Mexico) § Two-party systems – Two parties compete with one another for control of the government. (United States of America) § Two-and-a-half party systems – A third party receives a sizable percentage in the national vote, but one of the two larger parties usually wins. (United Kingdom) § Multiparty systems – Systems have more than three significant parties. Although two larger parties may exist, they are far from dominant. These typically result in coalition governments (Germany) ►

Political Parties and Party Systems ► Advantages of a Large Number of Major Political Parties § Better representation of citizen interests § Better representation of minority interests ► Disadvantages of a Large Number of Major Political Parties § Political instability due to fragile coalitions § Undue influence of small and extreme parties § Difficulty in holding political parties accountable

Fig. 10. 1 Political Party Systems

Topic in Countries ► Political Parties in Iran, China, the Russian Federation, and Nigeria § Iran: A few main political parties after 1979 Revolution; parties later replaced by loose electoral coalitions; today, a “no party system” § China: Classic one-party system; CCP continues to dominate Chinese politics § Russia: Weak party system after collapse of USSR; turned into one-party dominant system under Putin and United Russia. § Nigeria: Emerging one-party dominant system (PDP dominates the executive and legislature)

Topic in Countries ► Political Parties in the United Kingdom § The UK: Generally considered a two-and-a-half party system § Labour Party had controlled the government since 1997. Conservatives gained control of government in 2010. Re-elected in 2015. § The main opposition party is the Labour Party. § The third largest party was the Liberal Democratic Party. It is now the Scottish National Party. ►Gains a relatively large percent of the vote ►But, with FPTP system, wins a smaller percent of seats

Topic in Countries ► Political Parties in Germany, France, India, Mexico, and Brazil § Germany: Multiparty system with two main parties: Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and Social Democrats (SPD) § France: “Multiparty bipolar system”; most important party today is the Socialist party (Hollande’s party); main party of the Right is the UMP (Union for a Permanent Majority) § India: Multiparty system (six national parties); Congress Party (INC) dominated for much of early independence period but BJP is INC’s main rival and currently controls the government.

In Theory and Practice Realignment Theory and Germany ► Realignment Theory § Developed by scholars of American politics § Claims “critical elections” remake a country’s political landscape ► Germany and Realignment Theory § Some see Germany as experiencing a realignment following 2005 elections § The 2005 Bundestag election produced no clear winner; result was a CDU/SPD grand coalition § Aftermath included a new party, the Left Party

In Theory and Practice Cleavage Structure Theory of Party Systems and Political Parties in France ► Cleavage § § § Structure Theory Outlined in Chapter 5 Lipset and Rokkan apply this to party systems They contend that party systems reflect underlying social cleavages but “froze” in the 1920 s ► France § France’s “multiparty bipolar system” today looks much like it did in the 1920 s § Multiple parties but two main groups, one on the left and one on the right

Topic in Countries ►Participation in Germany, France, India, Mexico, and Brazil § Mexico: The Institutional Revolution Party (PRI) dominated for much of the 20 th century; multiparty system today with the National Action Party (PAN) gaining strength, but the PRI controls presidency. § Brazil: Very large number of parties gain seats in the legislature; four are the most important, including the Worker’s Party (PT), the party of President Rouseff.

In Theory and Practice Party Organization Theory and Mexico ► Party Organization Theory § Associated with Joseph Schlesinger § Highlights the collective action problem of political parties; why should individuals work for the party? § Party “entrepreneurs” are willing to work hard because they may gain personally through winning political office ► Mexico’s (PRD) Party of Democratic Revolution § PRD founded by the son of a former PRI leader

Elections and Electoral Systems Types of Electoral Systems § Proportional representation (PR) - The percentage of the vote a certain party gets Proportional representation (PR) - becomes the percentage of the seats that the party secures in the legislature. Voters cast ballots for parties in multi-member districts. § First past the post (FPTP) – Voters select one candidate among several in single member districts. The candidate with a plurality the vote takes the seat in the legislature. The system can result in a party winning a high percentage of seats in a legislature. § Variations and hybrid systems – discusses various ways that multi member districts can be used in different types of PR elections, as well as how run offs can be used in majoritarian systems. Preference systems use ranked list of candidates to achieve a majoritarian outcome. The single transferable vote system combines preferential voting from a list of candidates with the use of multi member districts. ► Advantages of PR Electoral Systems § Minority interests are represented § Women are more likely to be elected to office § An emphasis on ideas over personalities ► Disadvantages of PR Electoral Systems § Too many small parties with disproportionate importance § PR facilitates extremist parties ►

Topic in Countries ►Elections in the PR Systems of Brazil and the Russian Federation § Brazil: Lower house chosen by PR (but senators by FPTP and president by majority vote); lower house uses “open list” PR § Russia: Used to be a hybrid system; President Putin pushed to change it to PR only; 2007 legislative elections and 2008 presidential elections sparked claims of irregularities

Topic in Countries ► Elections in FPTP Systems of the United Kingdom, France, India, and Nigeria § The UK: FPTP for House of Commons elections; tends to produce a majority party (which then controls the prime minister position) § France: Majoritarian FPTP (two rounds of voting); legislative candidates only need 25% of vote to win § India: SMD/FPTP system for Lok Sabha; majorities are hard to come by, so coalitions between national and regional parties are common § Nigeria: Senate and House of Representatives elections are SMD/FPTP; PDP has dominated elections since democracy was restored in 1999

Topic in Countries ► Elections in the Hybrid Electoral Systems of Germany and Mexico, and the SMDMMD System in Iran § Germany: Electoral system for the Bundestag combines PR and FPTP; PR seats distributed to create overall totals as if a pure PR system § Mexico: The Congress is elected through a combination of PR and FPTP (presidential winner comes from a FPTP national vote); Senate elections include a “second past the post” (SPTP) rule § Iran: Guardian Council can block candidates from running for office; in Parliament elections, some districts are single-member while others are multimember

Topic in Countries ►(Local) Elections in China § China: No real national elections; but, local elections have some genuine competition; candidates in village elections not always those preferred by the CCP § Some believe these local elections are an experiment in democracy – like the special economic zones that were an experiment with capitalism before it spread across the country