POLS 1150 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Bicameralism, Electoral District, Gerrymandering

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 1150
• Professor: Devin Penner

Document Summary

It is possible for officials from all three governmental institutions to be subject to periodic election. Focus tends to be on lower/first chamber of legislature since it is the confidence chamber. 2 variables describe the basic features of an electoral system: district magnitude (m) number of candidates elected in each constituency. Single-member system m of 1, ex. Multi-member system m is greater than 1, the case for most of the world"s democracies: electoral formula rule by which the winner is determined. Plurality candidate with more votes than any other is declared the winner. Majority winning candidate secures a majority of the votes casted. Proportionate seats distributed among parties in the proportion that votes were casted: plurality & majority usually associated with single-member, proportionate with multi-member. 2 variables describe electoral system effects: disproportionality in proportionate system, proportion of seats each party receives is identical to the exact proportion of votes it received, disproportional is being out of proportion.