Electoral Systems

-representation 

-choosing the government 

-holding a government to account 

-participation 

-influence over policy 

-give a fair result that gives equal vlaue to peoples votes across the country 

-a choice of candidates 

-an effective link between the elected representative and the constituency 

-a strong governement that can pass laws but can be held to account by the electorate 

Advantages 

-speed and simplicity 

-provides a strong and stable government 

-doesnt let in extremists 

-creates a strong link between MPs and thier constituents 

Disadvantages 

-MPs and government can be elected on less than 50 percent of the popular vote 

-lack of proportionality 

-the winners bonus, winner takes all, the winning party gets a disproportionate amount of seats compared to votes 

-limited voter choice 

-votes are of unequal value, small constituency votes are more important than largye constituency votes 

Where is it used? 

-the scottish parliament, welsh assembly, greater london assembly 

How does it work? 

-voters has two votes the first for a constituency representative who is elected using FPTP 

-second is for  party-list, uses multi-member regional constituencies, resulting in an alement of proportional representation 

-fewer list members than constituency representatives 

-these bodies have a 4-year fixed term 

A hybrid electoral system in which the voter makes two choices. Firstly, the voter selects a representative on a simple plurality system, then a second vote is apportioned to a party list for a second or "additional" representative. 

Where is it used? 

-northern ireland, european assembly elections in northern ireland, and scottish counsel elections 

How does it work? 

-it uses multi-member constituencies, in the case of northern ireland assembly, there are 18, each returning five members 

-voters number thier choices preferentially, numerical order 

-in order to be elected, a candidate needs to reach a quota, arrived at using the droop formula, which divides the number of votes cast by the number of seats contested plus one 

An electoral system that allows voters to rank thier preferences in numerical order. In order to win a seat, a candidate must obtain a quota. After the votes are cast, the candidates with the least votes are eliminated and their votes are transferred. Those candidates with excess votes above the quota also have thier votes transferred. 

Where is it used? 

 -elections for the london mayor, police and crime commissioners in england and wales 

How does it work? 

-each voter is allowed a first and second preference vote 

-any candidate who gains more than 50 percent of firt preference votes is elected automatically 

-if this does not occur, all candidates except the top two are eliminated. Second preference votes for these  two candidates are now added to produce an overall winner 

A majoriatrian electoral system that gives the voter two choices. If one candidate obtains more than 50 percent of the vote of the first vote, then they are elected. If no candidate attains this level, all but the top two candidates remian. Then the supplementary choices are redistributed to produce a single winner. 

Sept 1997 Scotland Establishment of a Scottish Parlia 74.3% yes 25.7% no 60.4% turnout 

Sept 1997 Wales Establishment of Welsh Assembly 50.3% yes 49.7% no 50.1% turnout

May 1998 London London Mayor and Assembly 72.0% yes 28.0% no 34.0% turnout

May 1998 N Ireland Goof Friday Agreement  71.1% yes 28.9% no 81.0% turnout 

Nov 2004 North England Elected regional assembly 22.0% yes 78.0% no 48.0% turnout 

Mar 2011 Wales Extension of powers to assembly 63.5% yes 36.5% no 35.6% turnout 

May 2011 UK Change to AV system 32.1% yes 67.9% no 42.2% turnout 

Sept 2014 Scotland Scottish independance 44.7% yes 55.3% no 84.6% turnout

June 2016 UK EU referendum 48.1% remain 51.9% leave 72.2% turnout