First Past The Post - Advantages and disadvantages table in A Level and IB Government & Politics

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Created by: CaitlinH317
Created on: 08-01-19 10:59

First Past The Post

Advantages

very little chance for extremist parties to gain power
the results can be calculated quickly
simple to understand
voters can clearly express the party/individual they support
single-party governments don't have to rely on others to pass legislation
not too costly

Disadvantages

smaller parties are less likely to succeed (system bias)
number of votes isn't accurately reflected in the number of seats won (disproportional)
encourages tactical voting so results don't actually reflect the nations true support
'floating' or 'swing' voters change their votes between elections making it hard to predict results
encourages voter apathy as voters feel as though their votes are wasted due to safe seats

Evaluation

First Past the Post needs an update as it is incredibly disproportionate which means that people are not being represented accurately so democracy is lacking in this system. It may be worth looking at alternative systems instead.

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