Democracy, Elections & Democracy, Elections & Electoral SystemsElectoral Systems

This weekThis week

1. Democracy

2. Electoral systems

DemocracyDemocracy

Democracy:Democracy:A very broad definitionA very broad definition

• Demos + kratia

• Ensuring legitimate decisions

• Translating people’s desires into decisions• directly (referendum, participatory

democracy)• indirectly (representation)

• Participation: from limited to extensive

Early democracies•Ancient Athens•Roman Republic•Any small-village council•Women not involved

Modern democracy 1:Mostly representative

• Voters are represented • Election of legislature & executive• Gradual extension of suffrage• Political parties & multipartism• Majority rule but…

• a liberal democracy • leaders & majorities are constrained• individuals & minorities are given (some)

protection

Modern democracy 2:Some direct democracy, too

Referendum

• Used in democratic countries

• Vote on a specific question

• Decision usually accepted by leaders

• A.k.a. ballot initiatives, propositions

Participatory democracy

• Used infrequently• Citizens themselves

deliberate• Consensus or

majority• Used on small scale

(city, village, town)

Electoral systemsElectoral systems(a.k.a. voting systems)(a.k.a. voting systems)

NB: this is about the election of the lower house of parliamentsNB: this is about the election of the lower house of parliaments

Images in this section are taken from Images in this section are taken from Douglas J. Amy..

Why bother with elections & Why bother with elections & electoral systems?electoral systems?

• Procedure to elect representatives to legislature

• Translating votes into seats

• A balance of 1. Stability & effectiveness2. With the representation of different

values & interests

Why the debate Why the debate about the voting system?about the voting system?

• People not adequately represented

• Voter cynicism/discontent/apathy

• Making democracy more substantive

• A possible response: reforming the electoral system

Different ways Different ways of distributing seatsof distributing seats

A country with a parliament of 50 seatsA country with a parliament of 50 seats

District = ridingDistrict = riding

50seats

Entire countryis a PR district

Used in SMPUsed in SMP Used in PR systemsUsed in PR systems

System 1:System 1:Single member plurality (SMP)Single member plurality (SMP)

• A.k.a. first-past-the-post • 1 seat per riding• 1 vote per person• Encourages bipartism (plus small third

parties)

• Encourages centrist government political parties target “median voter”

Median voter = person in the middle

AdvantagesAdvantages

• Simplicity• Stable majorities, seldom

minority governments• Strong government in

parliamentary system• Coherence of political

programme & policies

For the Ontario election of October 6, 2011, if you lived in the Ottawa-Centre riding, your ballot looked something like this.

DisadvantagesDisadvantages

4 parties’ results 4 parties’ results in one ridingin one riding

Winner of the seat with just 35% of the vote. This is called:- a relative majority- or a plurality

• % votes and % seats disproportionate• Weak representation (see chart & next slide)

• Regional fragmentation if concentration of voters

• Much power in the hands of majority• Limited choice if dissatisfied with current gov.• Illusion of broad support (click here)• Weak mandate (according to critics)

Ex.: Votes in the May 2, 2011, Canadian federal election

Eligible voters(people who had the right to vote)

People who actually voted on May 2, 2011People who voted for Conservative Party candidates (40% of those who voted, but 24% of all eligible voters)

System 2:System 2:Proportional representation (PR)Proportional representation (PR)

• A family of systems• Several seats per riding• 1 vote per person• Approximation of % votes and % seats• Different methods of seat distribution• More parties can win seats

How to cast a PR voteHow to cast a PR vote

Closed party list ballot• Voter chooses party• Candidates are elected in

order of appearance if more than one is elected

Open party list ballot• Voter chooses preferred

candidate in one party• Candidates and parties

with most votes get elected

Ex.: A riding with 5 seats to be allocated Ex.: A riding with 5 seats to be allocated

Type

1

Type

1

Type

2

Type

2

Distribution of seats in PR (using the largest remainder method)

Five parties receive the following popular vote in a 10-seat ridingRepublican 38,000Democrat 23,000Reform 21,000Green 12,000Independent 6,000Total popular vote 100,000

Number of votes required to obtain 1 seatQuota = Total popular vote expressed ÷ Number of seats

= 100,000 ÷ 10= 10,000

10,000 votes give a party 1 seat Republican: 38,000 3 seats remainder = 8,000 1 more seat = 4 Democrat: 23,000 2 seats remainder = 3,000 = 2 Reform: 21,000 2 seats remainder = 1,000 = 2 Green: 12,000 1 seats remainder = 2,000 = 1 Independent: 6,000 0 seat remainder = 6,000 1 seat = 1 Seats allocated 8 Seats left to allocate 2

2 largest remainders get 1 seat each

AdvantagesAdvantages

• “Getting what you vote for”• Voting for parties or for candidates• Better representation: cross-section of

the population• Ways to affect degree of proportionality

• ridings with many seats: more proportional• ridings with few seats: less proportional• setting minimum % of votes to participate

in distribution

DisadvantagesDisadvantages

• Harder to understand at first• Possibility of instability (depending

on number of parties in the house)• Negotiations between party

leaders & coalitions• Coalition compromise may be

different from election platform• Can encourage radical parties

(depending on degree of proportionality)

System 3:System 3:Mixed member proportional (MMP)Mixed member proportional (MMP)

• Combines SMP & PR• 2 votes per person

• 1 for SMP riding• 1 for PR riding

• Seats in parliament elected with SMP & PR: • Germany: 50% SMP, 50% PR• Italy: 75% SMP, 25% PR• New Zealand: 60% SMP, 40% PR• proposed for Ontario in 2007: 70% SMP, 30% PR

• Proportionality is influenced by the mix of SMP & PR seats

SMPriding

SMPriding

SMPriding

SMPriding

SMPriding

SMPriding

SMPriding

SMPriding

SMPriding

SMPriding

PR riding with 10 seatsPR riding with 10 seats

How to cast a MMP vote

Single member Single member pluralityplurality

ProportionalProportional

Real German ballot

Advantages & disadvantages

• Better representation than SMP• Contact between voter & individual

candidates is preserved (SMP)• Choice of party, too (PR)• Stability of coalitions• SMP & PR component can be tweaked • Less encouragement to radical parties than

PR only• Can be complex

• follow more candidates & more

System 4:System 4:Single transferable vote (STV)Single transferable vote (STV)

• A.k.a. preferential voting, a.k.a. choice voting

• Several seats per riding • 1 vote per person• Voters indicate order of

preference

How to cast a STV ballotHow to cast a STV ballot

• 2 types of STV ballots Ballot

Douglas Campbell – Dem.

Martha Dains – Rep.

Terry Graybeal – Reform

Robert Gomez – Dem.

Cynthia Daniels – Indep.

Robert Higgins – Rep.

Indicate your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th choices

Type

1

Type

1 Type

2

Type

2

Distribution of the seats in STV: Distribution of the seats in STV: calculating the threshold for 1 seatcalculating the threshold for 1 seat

Characteristics of the riding There are 3 seats to fill There are 6 candidates running

Calculation of the threshold (or quota) required to get one seat Threshold = [Votes cast ÷ (number of seats + 1)] + 1 = [10,000 ÷ (3 + 1)] + 1 = (10,000 ÷ 4 ) + 1 = 2,501

To get 1 seat a candidate needs 2,5012,501 votes

Six candidates receive the following popular vote Douglas Campbell: 400 Martha Dains: 2,300 Terry Graybeal: 2,000 Robert Gomez: 2,900 Cynthia Daniels: 1,800 Robert Higgins: 600 Total popular vote: 10,0000

This formula is called This formula is called the Droop quota*the Droop quota*

= 2,501 votes2,501 votes

Distribution of the seats in STVDistribution of the seats in STV

Threshold = 2,501 votesThreshold = 2,501 votes

AdvantagesAdvantages

• Few unused/wasted votes• Voters indicate where a wasted

vote goes• Contact between voter and

individual candidates is preserved• Improves representation• Stable majorities

DisadvantagesDisadvantages

• Hard to explain• Need to know about all the candidates

& their parties• If there are too many seats & too many

candidates voters can’t rank all the candidates

• Random ranking beyond a certain point (“Donkey voting”)

ConclusionConclusion

• Close association between democracy & election

• Elections allow to choose representatives

• Voting systems• use different methods to translate

votes into seats• balance stability & representation• affect # of parties & views represented