POL 101W Study Guide - Final Guide: Proportional Representation, Election Threshold, Instant-Runoff Voting
7 Dec 2016
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Week 8: elections and electoral systems key concepts. Electoral district: or ridings are geographical subdivisions for electing members to legislative body. District magnitude: number of representatives elected in each district. Gerrymandering: manipulating divisions of a country into electoral districts that benefit a particular party. Universal suffrage: allows all adults the right to vote except for insane persons or convicted criminals. Electoral system: translate votes into composition of legislature and selection of the government. Plurality system: party that gets most votes win majoritarian systems: party gets more than half the votes. Single member plurality: (first past the post) individual"s cast a single vote for a candidate in a single member district. Examples: uk, india, canada, nigeria, united states run-off/two-round system (trs): potential of 2 rounds of election. If candidates do not reach electoral threshold, typically absolute majority, then second round of election takes place. Winner of most votes in second rounds gets elected.
