Additional Members System (AMS)

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Additional Members System (AMS)

Advantages

  • mixed character keeps constituency representation and combines this with fairer representation - e.g. in 2011 Scottish Parliament, Labour MPs got 20% constituency seats in FPTP for 31% of votes and following the variable top-up got 29% seats
  • encourages drift towards two-party system - e.g. Lib dems only gained one seat in Welsh Assembly elections under FPTP but got 4 top-up seats
  • broadly proportional, but not so much that it rules out the possibility of single party government - e.g. Scotland 2011 formed a single party government
  • allows voters to make a wider choice and vote for different parties in constituency and list elections
  • allows smaller parties to gain seats - e.g. Green party gained two seats in the regionalist section but won none under the FPTP elections in 2011

Disadvantages

  • retention of single member constituencies reduces the likelihood of high levels of proportionality - e.g. SNP won 44% votes and 53.5% seats in 2011 Scottish elections
  • create confusion - two classes of representatives - e.g. some directly elected by the people who might look down on others who are indirectly elected
  • constituency representation is less effective than in FPTP as the constituencies are larger and some representatives have no constituencies

Evaluation

overall, is more democratic because it gives smaller parties and therefore the minorities greater representation in government and increases the likelihood of a coalition thus making government represent more interests and disadvantages are weak as they do not directly make democracy weaker

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