The role of elections in a democracy Do

The role of elections in a democracy Do elections guarantee democracy? Unit 1

This week in British politics • WOOLAS OUSTED OVER ELECTION SLURS • http: //www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-politics-11699888 • COULSON QUESTIONED OVER HACKING CLAIMS • http: //www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-politics-11703766 • Labour MP Paul Farrelly admits incident in Parliament • http: //www. bbc. co. uk/news/uk-politics-11703621

Elections • Elections in established democracies are generally free and fair. Today, more countries hold elections that meet the criteria. • Even in countries with dubious democratic credentials, elections are still recognised by the ruling authorities as being useful. • Eg. Burma • http: //www. bbc. co. uk/news/world-asia-pacific 11704738

Types of elections in Britain • • General elections Local elections European elections Elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. • Occasional by-elections.

Key terms. Define; • • Representation – Proportional Representation –. Mandate – Electoral mandate –

Key Concepts • Representation – standing for, or acting on behalf of, a body of people. • Proportional Representation – A principle or system in which parties are represented in an assembly proportional to their electoral strength. • Mandate – an authoritative instruction or command from a higher body that demands compliance. • Electoral mandate – an election victory is interpreted, by the successful party, as giving it a mandate from the people to govern the nation. • ‘Strong in the belief that Tuesday’s vote delivered him a mandate to govern President Bush will begin his second term’

Electoral systems used in UK • FPTP – Westminster • Closed Regional Party List – MEPs • Additional Member System – Scottish Parl. , Welsh Assembly, GLA • Single Transferable Vote – N. I • Supplementary Vote – Mayor of London

• Majoritarian • Proportional

Simple Plurality System • • • First Past the Post System; Used in Westminster Elections Single member constituencies; Representation 650 seats at last election Just one more vote than next person needed to win – majority not required (plurality) • Party with most number of seats in parliament forms govt. - carries through mandate • Accountable (MPs want single member constituency)

Israel • 120 members in Knesset • 1 national constituency - voters vote for party lists • Votes proportional to seats won • Threshold of 2% votes to win a seat • As pure a form of P. R there is.

FPTP - Advantages • Simple to understand • Voter can express view on which party should form next govt. • Leads to 2 party system – single party govts. Strong enough to create legislation • Close link between the MP and constituency. • System represents views of the people, as candidate with greatest support wins through fair process. • Hold candidates to account – Tatton 1997 – Neil Hamilton voted out for sleaze. • It works, why change? !

FPTP - Disadvantages • Only 1 MP elected in each constituency, so all voters who didn’t vote for MP are not represented. See Table 1 • Wasted votes – 1997; 14. 7 million voters cast ineffective votes (48% electorate) See Table 2 • Lack of choice – do not choose candidates. • Votes non – transferable. • Voters are represented unequally; 1997 – ave. number of votes per MP elected: 32, 376 for Labour, 113, 826 for Lib Dems. • Concentrated support wins seats. Conservatives won 18% votes in Scotland yet won no seats. • 2005 Labour won 35% votes yet won 62% seats.

Proportional Representation • Aim of P. R; • i) Ensure party representation mirrors as closely as possible level of support for various parties as a whole • ii) To provide voters with some degree of choice.

Closed Party List – European elections • Multi member constituencies. Ballot paper holds list of political parties rather than list of candidates. Seats allocated according to no. of votes won. • UK elects 78 MEPS to European Parliament every 5 years. • Uses the D’Hondt Formula: Number of Votes cast Number of Seats won plus 1 • Closed means that voters cannot determine which candidates are elected, just vote for party. (party will have order) • Regional lists divides country into regions – 12.

European elections 2004 • 7 MEPs elected for Eastern region; 3 Conservatives, 2 UKIP, 1 Labour, 1 Lib Dem. • Overall: • Cons-27 • Lab – 19 • UKIP- 12 • Lib Dems – 12 • Green – 2 • SNP – 2 • Plaid Cymru - 1

Closed Party Lists • Advantages; • Higher degree of proportionality • Simple for voters to use, just vote for a party • Disadvantages: • Voters have little say on the candidates • Accountability lost with multi member candidates • Parties become all powerful as select candidates

Single Transferable Vote • Used in Republic Ireland, NI Assembly • Multi member constituencies • Option favoured by electoral reform society. http: //www. electoral-reform. org. uk • Preferential voting – ie. Order the candidates in order or preference. • As many votes as there are candidates • Uses a quota to distribute votes = Votes cast in constituency +1 Seats in constituency +1

Single Transferable Vote • Why quota? • To find the smallest number of votes to ensure that only the target number of candidates can achieve election. • Candidates who gain more votes than are needed to achieve the quota have the excess removed and redistributed. • If target number of candidates still not achieved then last placed candidate eliminated. See Banbridge West Ward 1997 Election.

STV Advantages • Only complicated for the returning officer. Simply rank candidates • Wide range of choices • Every vote counts – fewer wasted votes • Fairer to smaller parties • Likely to produce coalitions • Good at securing election of women and minority groups Disadvantages • Election results may take some time to announce. (weeks) • Calculation is very complicated. • Downside to coalition governments • No link between MP and constituency

Northern Ireland 2007 Multi party system • • 1998 Good Friday Agreement – power sharing agreement involving 2 nationalist and 2 unionist parties. Party Total Votes %votes Seats Change from 03 DUP 207, 721 30. 1 36 +6 Sinn Fein 180, 573 26. 2 28 +4 Ulster Unionist 103, 145 14. 9 18 -9 SDLP 105, 164 15. 2 16 -2 Alliance 36, 139 5. 2 7 +1 Green 11, 985 1. 7 1 +1 others 45, 586 6. 6 1 -

Additional Member System – Hybrid System • Used in elections for Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, London Assembly • Two types of MP – those elected under FPTP (MP 1) and an additional top up member chosen from lists of party nominees (MP 2) • MP 1 are constituency representatives • MP 2 are party representatives to reflect proportional votes cast for that party - regional • Voters have two ballots – one for constituency vote and one for regional vote. • D’Hondt formula used: Votes cast for party in regional list All seats won by that party in region +1

All Wales Convention - Time for the next step? • The current powers available to the National Assembly are enough? • It’s the right time for Wales to take the next step towards full law making powers?

AMS – Features • Advantages: • Greater proportionality • Gives opportunity for voters to split their vote • Smaller parties given greater opportunity for representation • Combines best features of FPTP and List system • Disadvantages: • Total proportionality not achieved • Question over accountability http: //new. wales. gov. uk/awcsub/awchome/? lang=en

Results if party list or STV used in 2005 election Labour Seats won: List Seats won: STV (FPTP) 227 (356) 263 Conservative 209 (197) 200 Lib Dems 142 (62) 147 SNP / Plaid 14 13 Others 54 (30) 23 Question - Would the results have been fairer if either system had been in use in 2005?