The role of elections in a democracy

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.

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 - Advantages

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. FPTP - Disadvantages

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

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 Closed Party Lists

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 Seats in constituency +1 +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.

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 STV

Northern Ireland 2007 • Multi party system • 1998 Good Friday Agreement – power sharing agreement involving 2 nationalist and 2 unionist parties.

Used in elections for Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, London Assembly Two types of MP – those elected under FPTP (MP1) and an additional top up member chosen from lists of party nominees (MP2) MP1 are constituency representatives MP2 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 Additional Member System – Hybrid System

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?

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 AMS – Features http://new.wales.gov.uk/awcsub/awchome/?lang=en

Results if party list or STV used in 2005 election Question - Would the results have been fairer if either system had been in use in 2005?

The role of elections in a democracy