Unit 1 Government & Politics AS elections and voting

• To choose representatives
• To choose a government 
• To provide for political participation 
• To influence policy
• To hold office holders to account
• To educate the electorate 
• To give legitimacy to both the winner and the system 
• To recruit a political elite

• Their constituency 
• Their party
• The electorate 

• General elections 
• European Parliament elections
• Elections to the devolved assemblies
• Local elections
• By-elections

• First past the post: a plurality system used for general elections
• Supplementary vote: a majoritarian system used to choose directly elected mayors and police and crime commissioners 
• Additional member system: a mixed system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and London Assembly 
• Regional list system: proportional system used for elections to the European Parliament
• Single transferable vote: a proportional system used in Northern Ireland for elections and the European Parliament, and for local elections in Scotland 

• Electors cast a single vote by placing a cross on the ballot paper next to the name of their favoured candidate
• To win, a candidate requires a pluarlity of votes, i.e. one more vote than the second placed candidate
• MPs are elected in single member constituencies of roughly equal size

• A two party system
• A winner's bonus
• Bias to the Labour party
• Discrimination against third parties and small parties
• Single party government

• Simplicity
• Clear outcome
• Strong and stable government
• Responsible government
• Effective representation

1. Disproportional outcomes:

• The two main parties tend to win more seats than their vote merits
• Small parties whose votes are spread thinly rather than concentrated in particular areas are under represented
• FPTP creates electoral deserts
• A party can win the most votes but recieve fewer seats than its main rival

2. Plurality rather than majority system

3. Votes are of unequal value

4. Limited choice, safe seats and tactical voting

5. Divisive/adverarial politics

• Representatives are elected in single member constituencies
• Electors vote for candidates in order of preference
• To win, a candidate has to get an overall majority. If no candidate secures an absolute majority of first preferences, the lowest placed candidate is eliminated, and their second preferences transfered to remaining candidates
• The process continues until one candidate reaches the 50% + 1 vote threshold

• Representatives are elected by majorities in their constituencies
• The winning candidate must achieve broad support
• The link between representatives and constituencies is retained

• It is not a proportional system, and can produce less proportional outcomes than FPTP
• The candidate who secures most votes may not be elected when second prefernces have been distributed so the least unpopular, rather than most popular, candidate may be elected
• The second preferences of electors who voted for small extremist parties are taken into account

• Each elector has one vote and records only their first and second preferences on the ballor paper
• If no candidate wins a majority of first preferences, all but the top two candidates are eliminated, and the second prefernce votes for the remaining two eligible candidates are added to their first prefernce votes
• The candidate with the highest total is elected

• The winning candidate must achieve broad support
• The second preferences of voters who supported minor parties are not counted

• The winning candidate does not need to get a majority of first preference votes
• If used for general elections, it would not deliver a proportional outcome

• Representatives are elected in large, multi member regions
• Parties draw up a list of candidates, in the order in which they will be elected
• Electors cast a single vote for a political party or an independent. In the closed list system electors can only vote for a party or for an independent candidate. In an open list system, voters can choose between candidates from the same party
• Seats are allocated according to the proportion of votes won by each political party in the region

• There is a high degree of proportionality
• Political parties have used their lists to increase the number of women and ethnic minority candidates

• In closed list systems, voters cannot choose between candidates from the same party
• Parties control the order in which candidates appear on the list and can favour candidates who support the leadership
• The link between representatives and constituents is weakened in large multi member constituencies

• Voting takes place in large, multi member constituencies
• Electors vote for candidates in order of preference
• To be elected, a candidate must achieve a certain quota of the votes cast and any votes in excess of this are redistributed on the basis of second preferences
• If no candidate reaches the quota on the first count, the lowest placed one is eliminated and their second prefernces transferred to the remaining candidates - this continues until the required number of candidates have been elected

• It has a good record of delivering proportional outcomes, and ensures that votes are largely of equal value
• Only a party or group of parties that wins more than 50% of the popular cote can form a government
• Voters can choose between a large range of candidates, including different candidates from the same party

• The system is less accurate in translating votes into seats than list systems or some versions of additional member systems
• It uses large multi member constituencies that break the link between individual MPs and their constituency
• It is more likely to produce a coalition government that may be unstable and can give disproportional influence to minor parties that hold the balance of power

• The majority of members in the legislative assembly are elected using FPTP in single member constituencies 
• The remaining representatives - additional members - are elected in larger multi member constituencies 
• Electors cast two votes: one for a candidate in a single member constituency, and the other for a party from a party list in a nulti member constituency 
• Additional members allocated to ensure that parties in the legislature are represented in proportion to the votes cast

• It balances the desirability of constituency representation with that of fairness in election outcomes
• The results are broadly proportional and votes are less likely to be wasted
• Voters have greater choice

• It creates two categories of representative in the legislative assembly, one with constituency duties and one without
• Parties can have significant control over the party lists used to elect additional members
• Smaller parties are often under represented because multi member seats elect relatively few representatives 

• Elections have produced more proportional results
• Multi member systems have emerged in the devolved legislatures 
• The emergence of minority and coalition governments 
• Split ticket voting

• Complexity
• Additional members lack of a constituency link
• Low turnout

• Election results have been more proportional, translating votes cast into seats won more effectively 
• The rise of multi party politics is reflected in election outcomes with smaller parties winning seats and taking office
• Voters have a greater choice as votes for small parties are less likely to be wasted
• Majority, minority and coalition governments in the devolved assemblies have generally have been stable
• The new electoral systems have helped to produce more consensual and representative political systems
• Voters have become more sophisticated, often engaging in split ticket voting in elections to the devolved assemblies and voting differently in these elections from in Westminster elections

• The new systems have not always delivered highly proportional outcomes
• Extremist parties have gained seats: the BNP won two seats in the 2009 European Parliament elections
• The closed list system used for European elections and the regional list element of elections for the devolved assemblies restricts voter choice
• The new electoral systems weaken the relationship between representatives and constituents by using large multi member constituencies or (in AMS) creating two classes of representatives 
• Turnout has been low in elections conducted under the new electoral systems
• Some voters appear confused by the new systems, evidenced in the relatively high number of spolied ballot papers and wasted second preference votes

• FPTP fails to allocate seats fairly, producing outcomes that do not represent the views of the people
• Votes are not of equal value under FPTP and many are wasted
• Voters are often denised a meaningful choice
• Governments without a majority of the popular vote can impose major changes
• FPTP props up the two party system
• It would help restore faith in parliament and increase turnout

• FPTP delivers strong and stable government. PR delivers coalition governments which are often weaker and unstable
• Voters are given a clear choice between the government and the main opposition party
• Majority governments have a clear mandate and are able to deliver their policy commitments without bowing to the demands of minor parties
• Single member constituents provide a clear link between an MP and the people he or she represents
• FPTP is understood and accepted by voters -  there is little demand for electoral reform

• Sociological approaches
• Rational choice approaches

Between 1945 and 1970, voting behaviour in the UK was marked by two different features:

• Class voting
• Partisanship

But since 1970 there has been:

• Class dealignment
• Partisan dealignment

• Gender
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Region

Rational choice descriptions of voting behaviour focus on the choices made by individual voters. There are four main variants - those focus on:

• The importance of issues
• The importance of the state of the economy
• The character and comptence of the party leaders
• The competence of the government as a whole (judgemental)

• They have a direct effect on their readers voting behaviour
• They reinforce the views already held by their readers
• Newspaper coverage shapes the political agenda