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Study Theme 1D

Study Theme 1D. Elections and Voting Systems. Know your systems. There are FOUR voting systems in use in the UK at the moment. PR is HERE. First Past The Post (FPTP) Additional Member System (AMS) Single Transferable Vote (STV) Party List system. First Past the Post.

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Study Theme 1D

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  1. Study Theme 1D Elections and Voting Systems

  2. Know your systems • There are FOUR voting systems in use in the UK at the moment. PR is HERE. • First Past The Post (FPTP) • Additional Member System (AMS) • Single Transferable Vote (STV) • Party List system

  3. First Past the Post • UK House of Commons Elections • 650 “mini” elections go on, one in each constituency (“seats”) • Party that wins most seats gets “first past the post” and wins the election.

  4. FPTP Advantages Usually produces a decisive result. Usually delivers stable Government. Allows by-elections to register protest.

  5. FPTP Disadvantages Hung parliaments happen under FPTP. Do we get a fair result? Is strong government good government? Why bother voting?

  6. Myths about FPTP “It produces majority governments”. “The Conservatives do well under FPTP”. “The Lib Dems don’t do well under FPTP”. “Creates a link between voter and MP”.

  7. The Additional Member System • Used for Scottish Parliament elections • Hybrid of FPTP and PR • 129 MSPs • 73 constituency, 56 Regional “List” MSPs • Voters vote twice • 1st vote to elect constituency MSP • 2nd vote to elect regional list MSPs

  8. Advantages of AMS Gives smaller parties a chance. Unlikely any one party will have complete control. Every vote counts. Increase number of excluded groups in parliament.

  9. Disadvantages of AMS • Unelected MSPs. • MSP turf wars? • Parties more powerful than voters. • Government no-one voted for.

  10. Myths about the AMS “It’s complicated”. “It takes ages to work out the results”. “It leads to unstable coalitions”.

  11. Single Transferable Vote • Multi member constituencies • Voters rank voters 1 – whatever in order of preference • In use in Republic of Ireland • Introduced in Scotland in 2007 for local Government elections

  12. Advantages of STV Allows voter to choose within parties. All votes count. Give smaller parties a greater chance. Empowers voters, not political parties.

  13. Disadvantages of STV Harder for smaller parties than AMS. Multi members confuse voters. Could create unrepresentative “kingmakers”.

  14. Myths about STV “It’s is too complicated”. “Link between MP and voter is removed”. “Leads to unstable coalitions”. “On the whole there has been no excessive frequency either of elections or of changes of government In the Republic of Ireland”. SPiCE briefing October 2003

  15. So what does this all mean? • The issues are complex. • There is no one perfect system. • All voting systems have their strengths and weaknesses. • But keep away from lazy answers. • Go for quality, it’s worth it!

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