Definitions for Electoral System (as in the textbook by Oxford)

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  • Created by: Davny
  • Created on: 21-04-16 18:14
Multi-party system
Several parties compete for political power but no party is likely to gain the entire legislature
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Majoritarian system
Uses single member constituencies where only one representative is elected for the area
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Proportional system
Uses multiple member constituencies where many representatives are elected for the area
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Popular vote
Total number of votes received by a party across the nation
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Representative government
An assembly is elected to represent the peoples wishes
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Electoral reform
The want for a change in system used for elections
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Members of the 'chattering' class
Members of society who, because of their education, enjoy discussing politics
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First Past The Post (FPTP)
The candidate of each constituency who has the largest number of votes takes the seat (even with less than half the votes)
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Supplementary vote (SV)
If no candidate wins outright in the single-member constituency, the second preference votes of all other candidates are distributed between the top two until one is the winner
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Alternative vote (AV)
The voter marks candidates in order of preference, if a candidate gets a majority it stops here, if not the bottom candidate is eliminated and votes of their supporters are redistributed based on their second options, continues until majority reached
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Double ballot
Polling is split into two parts, if a majority is gained at first then voting stops here, if not it goes through to a second round where only the top two candidates remained insuring a majority
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Proportional close list system
The electorate votes based on party for unknown candidates (only work in proportional systems), the number of votes won=the number of seats for the party
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Single transferable vote (STV)
Voters can transfer their vote to other candidates if their first choice is eliminated after the first round of votes. A candidate can only win if they fulfill a quota set out by a mathematical formula
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Quota
(Total number of votes cast)/(number of seats+1) +1
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Additional Member system
Constituencies vote for one candidate under FPTP and the an other under a proportional system (split dependent on country and election)
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Minority government
A government made up of party that does not have the majority of seats in parliament
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Disenfrachised millions
Vast number of black South African who were unable to vote before majority rule was introduced
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Mandate
Authority of the government to carry out any programs in the manifesto
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Single-party government
Government made up of one party
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Coalition
A formal agreement between two or more parties when no party has a majority or in times of emergency, so the government is formed of ministers from multiple parties
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Manifesto
Document that outlines the ideas, policies and legislative proposals of a party before an election
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Delegate
Person chosen to convey the views of others
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Party discipline
Expectation of MPs to vote with party in the House of Commons
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Demagogues
Political agitators who seek to win support by preying on prejudices
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Parliamentary sovereignty
Concept that parliament has absolute power
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Devolution
Power granted from central government to regional or local governments
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Uses single member constituencies where only one representative is elected for the area

Back

Majoritarian system

Card 3

Front

Uses multiple member constituencies where many representatives are elected for the area

Back

Preview of the back of card 3

Card 4

Front

Total number of votes received by a party across the nation

Back

Preview of the back of card 4

Card 5

Front

An assembly is elected to represent the peoples wishes

Back

Preview of the back of card 5
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