Politics- Electoral Systems

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what are elections
process thru which ppl are given the opportunity to choose their reps,legislative and/or govt
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how does first past the post (FPTP) work
country divided into 650 constituencies,1 MP/constituency,1 vote for each member of electorate,only vote for 1 candidate, most votes=winner
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when is fptp used in the UK?
local council elections in england, general elections-MPs,HoC
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disadvantage of fptp
over half can vote against a candidate but they still win if have highest number of votes,gives winners advantage-large parties get disproportionate no.seats to no. votes,creates safe seats and marginal seats
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examples of safe seats for CONS
sailsbury + hampshire east
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examples of safe seats for LAB
bootle
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example of when candidates get
322/650 winning candidates won with less than 50% of the vote
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examples of marginal seats
Gower in wales
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what are marginal seats
known as the magic million,floating voter, the million voters who are undecided on who to vote for and live in marginal areas-they are the ones that make the difference in elections and so parties will campaign harder in these areas-need abt 5% swing
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advantages of fptp
tends to produce strong,stable single party govts,strong constituency links with MP,simple and quick,easy to understand,stops extreme lw and rw parties getting seats
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how does AV work
(diagram)650 constituencies are single member,electorate rank candidates in order
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where is AV used in uk
party leadership elections
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advantages of av
no wasted votes,candidates have to have over 50% of votes to win,retains constituency link
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what type of electoral system is av
majoritarian system-have to have over 50% of votes
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when is supplementary vote used in uk
mayoral elections and police and crime commissioner elections
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how does supplementary vote work
single member constituencies,list of candidates,vote for 1st and 2nd preference
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how do you calculate the winner for supplementary vote
if one candidate has 50% of 1st pref votes then they win,IF NOT,top 2 candidates have 2nd pref votes they got added to their 1st pref votes,person with most votes wins
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how do pure proportional representation electoral systems work(OPEN AND CLOSED LIST)
whole country is constituency,voters vote for a party, CLOSED LIST:parties draw up 650(uk) names OPEN LIST:also rank candidates or rank all candidates
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disadvantages of pure pr
often creates coalitions which may be weak,no constituency and MP link
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what is closed list pr
parties draw up 650(uk) names,regional multi member constituencies,one vote,vote for a party,each party puts forward a list of names decided by the party, run a formula to decide which parties win seats,formula based on how many seats there are
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when are closed regional list elections used
european parli elections, used to elect MEPs
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what is open list pr
also rank candidates or rank all candidates
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what is STV
(diagram)single transferable vote,PR based system,multi member constituencies,multiple candidates per party,voters rank candidates in order of pref,quota is formulated
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what is the stv quota
droop formula,candidates that hit the quota are elected and whatever they have past the quota go to the 2nd pref candidates,if not then person with lowest vote is eliminated
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where is stv used
northen ireland to prevent one community from dominating
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what is the additional member system
a hybrid system,30% of MSPs elected using fptp,30% using closed regional list,has a pr element to it,vote for candidate and vote for party
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disadvantages of ams
forms mainly weak minority or coalition govts
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where is ams used
scot parliament, wales assembly election and london assembly
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which section of the votes does fptp work for
constituency seats
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which section of the votes does closed list work for
regional seats
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in 2016 welsh assembly election, how were welsh lab votes calculated using ams
constituency seats=27, regional seats= 2
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in 2016 welsh assembly election, how were plaid cymru votes calculated using ams
constituency seats= 6, regional seats= 6
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which electoral system produces the most proportional result
pure list pr
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which parties would benefit most if pr used and not fptp
ukip, lib dems and greens
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which parties would lose out the most if pr used and not fptp
cons, labs and snp
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what type of party system does fptp often produce
a 2 party system (lab/cons in uk or republican/democratic in usa)
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which electoral system could be most democratic
pure list pr- but doesnt produce strong and stable governments
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what is a 2 party system
when 2 parties dominate political scene,power,elections+rep,could argue uk is this bc rly only cons/lab have change of winning election or be dominant member of coalition,often due to fptp bc electorate tactically vote,need concentrated votes
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Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

how does first past the post (FPTP) work

Back

country divided into 650 constituencies,1 MP/constituency,1 vote for each member of electorate,only vote for 1 candidate, most votes=winner

Card 3

Front

when is fptp used in the UK?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

disadvantage of fptp

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

examples of safe seats for CONS

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
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