SOC 305 Study Guide - Final Guide: George Tsebelis, Bicameralism, Contingent Vote
14 Mar 2017
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Chapter 13: elections are one of the defining characteristics of democracies and provide the primary mechanism by which democratic governments obtain the authority to rule, there are three main families of electoral systems: majoritarian, proportional and mixed. Electoral system a set of laws that regulate electoral competition between candidates or parties or both. Electoral formula determines how votes are translated into seats. Ballot structure how electoral choices are presented on the ballot paper. District magnitude the number of representatives elected in a district. Suffrage the civil right to vote and is sometimes referred to as the franchise. Universal suffrage when the right to vote is not restricted by race, gender, belief, or social status. Age most countries exclude non-adults on the ground that only mature people can make reasoned choices. Age is what is typically used as a cutoff for who can vote a(cid:374)d (cid:449)ho (cid:272)a(cid:374)"t.
