POL201Y1 Chapter Notes -Single Transferable Vote, Pippa Norris, Punctuated Equilibrium
Document Summary
Choosing electoral systems: proportional, majoritarian and mixed systems (pippa norris) Electoral system are a stable democratic institution and have changed rarely until recent developments. Classification of electoral systems: vary greatly on many dimensions such as district magnitude, ballot structures, assembly size, open/closed lists. Majoritarian oldest system in the world, requires candidates to win a plurality or an absolute majority of votes, focus on accountability and efficiency. Plurality/first past the post: creates a manufactured minority for leading party to work effectively. Winner take all". focus on governance, not representation of minority votes. Have constituencies with borders that are reviewed to have roughly equal populations. Don"t need a majority or meet a quota, just a simple plurality (more than closest rival) is decisive. Share of parliament seats determines the government (ie. constituents vote on leaders to gain parliament seats, party with most seats forms government)
