POSC 100 Lecture 12: Chapter 9 - Political parties (alienated system, PR, SMDP)
----------------------------
Political parties
Chapter 9
----------------------------
1. Why do we only have 2 political parties in the US? - alienated system
a. When we vote, we only have 2 choices (dem & rep)
i. Bc of our electoral system (the way we count the vote)
1. “Winner take all”
2. SMDP- Single member District plurality
a. We are divided into districts
i. We have 10 districts (big & small)
1. ***cannot vote for other districts***
you
vote for where you live (cannot go to district
6 if you are in
b. Include pic on phone****
2. PROBLEMS
a. Outcome doesn’t reflect how people vote (Losers get nothing )
i. How do 3rd parties to survive? (the greens)
1. They can’t because they will always lose so they drop out
2. Hard for new parties to survive because hard to get the same level
as dem & rep dont have a fighting chance
ii. Vague campaigns b/c you don’t want to alienate voters
1. Not cheap to run campaigns (super expensive to hit the whole
district to talk to other people)
2. Money is important so interest group comes in play (they fund the
elections)
iii. What kind of candidate survive the system?
1. Money (connections) = wealthier candidates*
2. Appeal to others (vegans, environmentalist)
b. Alienate voters (discourages them to vote bc “not worth it”
3. Most countries use: PR - proportional representation if you don’t wanna do the
system of winner take all, smdp (different strategies)
a. No districts (or multi member districts)
i. When going to vote for PR you can vote for any candidates doesn’t matter
about district - you will see all candidates (YOU GET TO VOTE FOR
WHAT YOU LIKE unlike only one district)
ii. Representation is proportional to the vote!
iii. Match the number of seats with the percentage
b. Include pic on phone****
