Term
| 5 Requirements for Competitive Elections |
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Definition
- Elections should not unnecessarily restrict citizens’ right to vote (Called the franchise)
- Parties must be relatively free to assemble and put forward candidates
- Citizens must be presented with alternatives at elections
- Intimidation, violence, threats and bribes should not occur during campaigns or at polls
- The administration of elections should be fair, the counting/reporting of votes should honest and consistent |
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Term
| The Bottom-Up View of Elections |
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Definition
| Elections are mechanisms for allowing citizens to select their governments, to influence public policies and to be represented |
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Term
| The Top-Down View of Elections |
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Definition
| Competitive elections allow governments to control the democratic process by focusing dissent, by limiting political participation primarily to elections and by legitimizing a system in which citizens have little effective power |
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Term
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Definition
- Choosing a government
- Mechanism of accountability
- Selection of representatives
- Conferral of legitimacy
- Establishing a policy mandate
- Mechanism for political education, mobilization and socialization |
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Term
| 3 Models of Electoral Representation |
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Definition
- Trustee model: Emphasizes that decisions are ultimately made according to the representatives’ own judgment. Citizens should trust their representatives’ judgment.
- Party model: Emphasizes that legislators are chosen on the basis of their party membership and as a result their responsibility is to support the party position
- Constituency model: Emphasizes the role that representatives play in supporting the interests of their constituents by helping them to deal with the large government bureaucracy, promoting government spending in the constituency and in some cases, generating employment opportunities |
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Term
| Substantive and Descriptive Representation |
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Definition
Substantive – Having representatives who make decisions that are best for their constituency
Descriptive – Have political representatives whose physical characteristics (gender, ethnicity and age) mirror those of their constituency |
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Term
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Definition
| AKA redistribution. Refers to the drawing of electoral boundaries in order to establish territorial districts/constituencies from which one or more representatives will be sent to the legislature. |
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Term
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Definition
| The manipulation of district boundary lines to advantage a particular group (or to disadvantage another) |
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Term
| Representation by Population |
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Definition
| AKA rep by pop. Advvocates that electoral districts should be roughly equal in population to ensure that individuals receive a proportionate share of representation in government. |
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Term
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Definition
| The determination of representative seats according to population. |
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Term
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Definition
- Constituency based and voters select a candidate on the ballot rather than a party
- Two types: Plurality (First Past the Post) and Majority |
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Term
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Definition
- A nonproportional system
- AKA First Past the Post, used in Canada
- The candidate who wins more votes than any other is awarded the seat |
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Term
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Definition
- A nonproportional system
- Candidate must win a majority of votes (50% + 1) in order to win the seat
- Often one election will not find a winner, hence a majority is found through 1 of 3 methods:
1) Majority Run-Off System: A second vote is called and lists the top two candidates from the first ballot round.
2) Majority Plurality System: A second vote is called but the number of candidates usually stays the same (though a threshold may be imposed). The winner is the one who obtains a plurality (the most votes).
3) Alternative Vote System: Only one election occurs but voters rank the candidates in order of preferences. The winner must obtain a majority of first preferences. If no candidate earns a majority of first preferences, the second preferences of the last place candidate are transferred to the remaining candidates until one candidate achieves a majority.
- Ex. Australian House of Representatives |
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Term
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Definition
- Award seats to parties in rough proportion to the share of votes earned
- Use multimember districts
- Two types: List System and Single Transferable Vote (STV) |
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Term
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Definition
- A proportional system using multimember districts
- Seats are awarded to parties that meet/exceed an electoral quota
- Closed-list system: Voters cast a single ballot for a party and candidates from that party's list are elected in the order that they appear on the list.
- Open-list system: Voters vote for a single party but can also choose to award votes individually to specific candidates/rank them on party lists.
- Ex. Israel and Switzerland |
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Term
| Single Transferable Vote System (STV) |
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Definition
- A proportional system with multimember districts
- Voters rank their candidate choices across parties
- Candidates who meet a quota are awarded a seat
- Initial counting looks at fist preferences only; any candidate meeting the quota is elected
- Second preferences of any surplus votes (in excess of the quota0 are then transferred to remaining candidates
- The candidates who meet the quota are elected
- If seats are still vacant, the weakest candidate is eliminated and the second preferences from those ballots are allocated until the quota is met and all seats are allocated
- Ex. Ireland and Australian Senate |
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Term
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Definition
- Combine elements of nonproportional and proportional electoral systems
- Ex. The Mixed Member Proportional System (MPP) |
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Term
| The Mixed Member Proportional System (MPP) |
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Definition
| Voters have two votes: one for the constituency representative and one for a party. A share of seats is allocated through single member districts and remaining seats are allocated in order to bring each party's seat share in line with the party's popular vote share. |
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Term
| 2 Criticisms of First-Past-the-Post Systems |
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Definition
- Votes for parties with anything less than a plurality are wasted, thus distorting seat shares and creating an overrepresentation of parties who win a plurality
- Parties whose support is concentrated in a certain region are more likely to be overrepresented in the legislature while parties with weak but more broadly dispersed support are likely to be underrepresented |
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Term
| 5 Potential Consequences of Moving to a Proportional System |
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Definition
1) The incentives for voting (fewer wasted votes) and for voting for smaller parties (as they would be more likely to gain seats) would increase and the turnout would increase and the system might become more fractionalized
2) Electoral results would likely become proportional and political parties would earn seat shares which more closely reflect the share of votes earned
3) The representation of minorities and women in legislatures could improve
4) Some PR systems would allow for voters rather than parties to have more say in determining which candidates get elected
5) Greater proportionality would translate into fewer majority governments and more coalition governments |
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Term
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Definition
- Sociological
- Sociopsychological
- Rational voting |
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Term
| Sociological Model of Voting |
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Definition
- Explains voting by identifying the social forces that determine individual values/beliefs
- People make decisions based on: place of residence, religious group, ethnic background, social class, age, gender
- These factors work their influence indirectly |
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Term
| The Sociopsychological Model of Voting |
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Definition
- Focuses on the psychological process of voting
- Like the sociological model, says that friends, family, ethnic groups and social cleavages likely shape the interests and values that voters bring to their vote decisions
- BUT, more important are personal/ political factors that occur closer in time to the decision
- Ex. Party identification – the longstanding psychological attachment or loyalty to a party that can directly influence where one is likely to put one’s X on the ballot
- Party identification acts as a filter through which individuals interpret election issues, candidates, parties and leaders (acts as a shortcut in the voting process) |
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Term
| Rational Voting Model of Voting |
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Definition
- States that voting is a rational decision, not based on social ties or partisan identification
- Assumes that voters employ a process of evaluation involving the important issues in the campaign, their assessment of the candidates and their platforms and their evaluations of the party leaders |
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Term
| 3 Levels of Participation |
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Definition
- Individual (voting/organizing a rally)
- Organizational (volunteering time to an interest group or donating money to a campaign)
- Professional (working as a paid lobbyist or political appointee) |
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Term
| Two Explanations for Protest Behaviour |
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Definition
1) Deprivation – political alienation and frustration with the system pushing individuals to pursue unconventional modes of political activity
2) Resource model - Protest behaviour is an alternative mechanism for drawing attention to a cause |
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Term
| 3 Tools of Direct Democracy |
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Definition
- The referendum
- The initiative
- The recall |
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Term
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Definition
- Allows citizens to vote directly on pieces of legislation or on constitutional questions
- Binding referendum – requires that the government act on the result of the referendum; provided great potential for citizen power
- Nonbinding referendums (AKA plebiscites) – do not tie a government to action, but their results are still hard to ignore
- Advantages – Public decisions are arrived at in a public manner through free and open debate, this leads to more political education as people will inform themselves more about issues if they have a say. People also vote for their own interests, not interests filtered by political representatives and parties. Referendums also provide a measure of legitimacy to the outcome, since “the people have spoken”
- Disadvantages – They can be used strategically by the political elite for purposes other than to solicit people’s views on the issue. The way a question is phrased can encourage a particular outcome. Also, they do not allow the public to shape the policy agenda. Rather, the people are provided with an opportunity to veto a government’s proposal. Also, we must question the public’s ability to deal with complex issues |
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Term
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Definition
- A device that allows registered voters to use petitions to propose the introduction of new laws or change existing ones
- A successful petition can force a referendum on a proposed bill or even introduce a new bill into the legislature
- The initiative process should set requirements high to ensure that minority interests do not hijack the democratic process
- Once on the ballot, many of these initiatives pass, even when a majority opposes the measure, therefore resulting in unrepresentative influence
- In some cases, propositions are inconsistent with existing laws or constitutional requirements and can dangerously tie the legislature’s hands |
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Term
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Definition
- Allows registered voters to petition to remove a representative between elections
- Meant to increase representative accountability
- The required amount of signatures must be high so no minority group hijacks process
- Important mechanism for ensuring that representatives keep the interests of their constituents in mind |
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Term
| Direct Democracy vs. Indirect Democracy |
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Definition
Direct: The people make decisions themselves like in Ancient Greece.
Indirect: The people elect representatives, who make the decisions for them |
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Term
| Direct Elections vs. Indirect Elections |
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Definition
Direct; People elect the decisionmakers.
Indirect: People vote for representatives who then elect the decisionmakers (ex. The US and the Electoral College who elects the President) |
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Term
Arguments For/Against Canada Changing to a Proportional System |
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Definition
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YES
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NO
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PR would eliminate the distortions produced by FPTP and ensure fair representation of all political tendencies
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PR would lead to a fragmentation of the party system by enabling smaller parties to gain seats
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PR would mitigate electoral regionalism by ensuring that parties receive a proportional share of seats in all regions
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Decreased likelihood of forming single-party majority governments
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PR would improve the parliamentary representation of women and other under-represented groups
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Adoption of party lists and multimember districts would weaken the traditional nexus between MP and constituency
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Fewer wasted votes; higher voter turnout rates
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PR systems are more complex than FPTP systems
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