Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Elections & the Electoral System
•Elections, Parties, & Representation
•Canada’s Electoral System
•Alternative Electoral Systems
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
What is an Electoral System?
•Electoral System: the rules governing the translation of votesinto parliamentary seats
–Main link between voters & elected officials & government
–Modern elections are primarily contested by political parties
•Political Party: a publicly (i.e., visibly) organized group ofpeople motivated by a set of common political ideas who tryto win public office to translate those ideas into policies
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Representative Democracy as a Chain of Delegation
•Strom (2000): representative democracy as a chain of delegation of powerfrom voters to Parliament to Cabinet
•Conventions of Responsible Government speak primarily to nature of theParliament – Cabinet link in this relationship
Voters
Parliament &MPs
Cabinet
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Responsible Government & Electoral Representation
1.Mandate view of Parliamentary Government & Elections
a)MPs compete as members of disciplined parties
b)Parties issue manifestos (platforms) that MPs support
c)Party that wins & forms cabinet has mandate to enact its manifesto
d)That party’s MPs provide cabinet w. confidence
e)At next election, the voters judge governing party’s record against its pledges
2.Rep-by-pop
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
•Note key idea of mandate view of parliamentarGovernment & elections: clear lines ofaccountability
•Consistent with underlying logic of responsiblegovernment
•But it’s not the only defensible or desirablejustification of elections – government linkage
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Representative Democracy as a Chain of Delegation
•Strom (2000): representative democracy as a chain of delegation of powerfrom voters to Parliament to Cabinet
•Electoral system affects link between voters and selection of MPs /partisan complexion of House of Commons
Voters
Parliament &MPs
Cabinet
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
The Electoral System
•Electoral System: the rules governing the translation ofvotes into parliamentary seats
•All electoral systems can be described by 4 elements:
1.Districts
2.District Magnitude (N seats per district)
3.Formula
4.Ballot Structure
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
The Canadian Electoral System:
•Single-member plurality (SMP)
•First-past-the post (FPP)
1.Number of Districts: 308 districts (‘ridings’)
2.District Magnitude: 1 seat per district
3.Formula: Plurality, i.e., most votes wins
4.Ballot Structure: no preference ordering or party-vote on ballot
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Dynamics of Electoral Systems
•All electoral systems have systematic dynamics, i.e., theytend to produce certain patterns of results irrespective ofvotes
1.Duverger’s Law
2.Wasted Votes & Strategic Voting
3.Disproportionality
4.Manufactured majorities
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Duverger’s Law
–SMP systems tend to support (at most) two major parties.
–To the extent that there are more than two parties, underSMP, the smaller parties are regional parties
•e.g., Progressives, CCF, Reform, Bloc
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Duverger’s Law
•In any region, at most 2 dominant parties
Ontario
B.C
Vote %
Seats
Vote %
Seats
Lib
39.9
54
(50.9%)
27.6
9
(25.0%)
Con
35.1
40
(37.7%)
37.3
17
(47.2%)
NDP
19.4
12
(11.3%)
28.5
10
(27.8%)
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Duverger’s Law
•Two front-runners & laggard
•One front-runner & two laggards
•Only rarely is there a 3-way dead-heat
Ontario
B.C
Vote %
Seats
Vote %
Seats
Lib
39.9
54
(50.9%)
27.6
9
(25.0%)
Con
35.1
40
(37.7%)
37.3
17
(47.2%)
NDP
19.4
12
(11.3%)
28.5
10
(27.8%)
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Duverger’s Law
•These patterns are due to
1.Wasted votes: votes that accrue to party in seats that it loses
2.Strategic voting: voting for 2nd choice to prevent worse outcome
Ontario
B.C
Vote %
Seats
Vote %
Seats
Lib
39.9
54
(50.9%)
27.6
9
(25.0%)
Con
35.1
40
(37.7%)
37.3
17
(47.2%)
NDP
19.4
12
(11.3%)
28.5
10
(27.8%)
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Disproportionality
•Disproportionality: when a party’s seat share (%) not equal to its voteshare (%)
•Under SMP:
–Large parties win more seats than votes
–Small parties (unless regional) win fewer seats than votes
•Result of:
–Wasted votes
–Strategic Voting
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
38%
25%
18%
10%
9%
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Manufactured Majority:when a party earns 50%or more of the seats withless than 50% of thevotes
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Alternative Electoral Systems
•Many electoral systems in use world-wide
•Proportional representation (PR) most common alternative
–% seats = % votes
–High District Magnitude (i.e., > 1 seats / district)
–Party lists & vote quotas (e.g., if 5 seats / district, 20%+ wins seat)
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Effects of Proportional Representation
1.Proportionality
2.Coalition government
3.Fragmentation (more parties)
4.Empowers party leaders (list-makers)
•Effects may be normatively positive or negative
–e.g., proportionality seems fair, but it may also contribute to politicalinstability
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
The Australian Electoral System:
•For the House of Representatives
•Alternative Vote or Preferential Voting
1.Number of Districts: 150 districts (‘electorates’)
2.District Magnitude: 1 seat per district
3.Formula: Majority, i.e., 50% + 1 wins
4.Ballot Structure: Preference ordering
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
The Australian Electoral System:
•For the House of Representatives
•Alternative Vote
1.Number of Districts: 150 districts
2.District Magnitude: 1 seat per district
3.Formula: Majority, i.e., 50% + 1 wins
4.Ballot Structure: Preference ordering
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
The Australian Electoral System:
To vote for a Member of the House ofRepresentatives, an elector is required towrite the number '1' in the box next to thecandidate who is their first choice, and thenumbers '2', '3' and so on against all the othercandidates, in order of the elector’spreference.
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
1.All number ‘1’ votes are counted for eachcandidate. If a candidate gets 50+% of the‘first preference’ votes, they are elected.
2.If no candidate has an absolute majority, thecandidate with the fewest votes is excluded.These votes are then transferred to the othercandidates according to the 2nd preferencesshown on these ballot papers.
3.If still no candidate has an absolutemajority, again the remaining candidatewith the fewest votes is excluded and thesevotes are transferred.
4.This process continues until one candidatehas more than 50% of the total votes cast.
Elections, Parties, and the Party SystemMalcomlson & Myers, Chapter 9 & 10
Single Transferable Vote
–Recommended by BC Citizens’ Assembly
–A preferential system (like Australia’s)
–District Magnitude 3-5
–Voters lists candidates by preference
–More proportionality, but voters ‘control’ list