POLI 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Party System
Document Summary
Reform liberalism aims to reform liberty, not the individual. Rational choice theory is developed from political science and anthropology. Marxists that differences of interest society stem from the existence of competing, social classes. Prioritizes adequate representation of the range of public opinions favours the participation of minority groups and smaller interest groups. It is like a bag of skittles, there is more variety and representation of different parties and different views. May encourage fragmentation of the party system. More difficult to assign accountability to parties. Some seats elected by a simple majority, others by proportional representation (e. g. Some systems use multiple rounds of elections where only the top two from the first round move on e. g. Considered an important feature for almost all political systems. Also criticized for irrational since the benefit of joining a political party for any individual is minimal. Divisive to society, particularly (but not always) when parties are based in ethnicities.