POL 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Plurality Voting System, Electoral District, Gerrymandering

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 100
• Professor: De Rooje

Document Summary

Members of the legislative branch of government are often popularly elected. Voting occurs in electoral districts: canada has 338. The size (number of voters) of these districts varies greatly by countries, and sometimes within countries. The same applies to the district magnitude the number of representatives elected in each district. Gerrymandering is the manipulation of the division of the country into electoral districts so as to benefit a particular party. Electoral systems translate votes into the composition of the legislature and the selection of the government. Electoral systems differ in the extent to which the following criteria are served: accurately represent the votes cast for each party, provide a link between representatives and voters. Facilitate the accountability of government: enable governments and representatives to claim that they have the support of the majority of voters. Incentives for parties to build broadly based support: disadvantages, wi(cid:374)(cid:374)i(cid:374)g (cid:272)a(cid:374)didate does (cid:374)ot (cid:374)e(cid:272)essarily o(cid:271)tai(cid:374) a (cid:858)ge(cid:374)ui(cid:374)e(cid:859)