COMP GOPO Unit 3 Political Parties, Electoral Systems, Citizen Groups

What are the major types of electoral systems? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Single member district plurality, proportional representation, majority system with runoffs

-Which one(s) commonly results in a two-party system? Multiparty system?

-What are the pros and cons of two-party and multiparty systems?

Single Member District Plurality

Winner gets the most votes in a defined geographic area. People vote for a PERSON to represent them.

Advantages: Easily understood by voters, provides a quick decision, more convenient and less costly than other voting methods, operates best under a two-party system, more accountability since candidate can't hide behind a party, 2 party system (stability; you know who will win), much more stable than proportional

Disadvantages: The majority of people might not approve, makes smaller parties drop out, smaller parties could cause a chunk of voters to leave a party (split the vote of a party), susceptible to gerrymandering, no political diversity, disproportional representation, wastes votes, 2-party system (3rd party voters are unsatisfied)

-Commonly results in a two-party system

Proportional Representation (note: vote for a party)

Parties earn seats based on the % of the national votes they win. People vote for a PARTY.

Advantages: represents the votes of people better, prevents gerrymandering, promotes political diversity, proportional representation, no wasted votes, parties must appeal to core voters (not swing voters), fairer treatment of minority parties and independent candidates, greater and more-representative choice for voters, may encourage turnout and reduce apathy, rarely produces an absolute majority, ensures continuity of government and needs greater consensus in policy-making

Disadvantages: doesn't work well in single-member districts, fragmented party system, allowance for extremist groups within the legislative space, leads to a weak coalition government and indecision and compromise and legislative paralysis, reduces accountability to voters (ousted party of government can keep power by finding coalition partners in an election), weakens link between the government official and his or her constituency, can put voters off voting by making them know more about individual and party positions, coalition government (a party needs other parties to have a majority), much less stable

-Commonly results in a multiparty system

Majority System

Winner gets more than 50% votes in a defined geographic area or there is a top-two runoff. People vote for a PERSON.

Pros: doesn't allow for extremist groups, able to elect an executive, people vote for a person, less opportunity for wasted votes, more accountability

Cons: third party would split votes or other candidate, less political diversity, more resources required to run a majority election, most likely to have runoff elections (more work for people)

-Commonly results in a multiparty system

What are the pros and cons of two-party systems?

Pros: restricts extremism in the government, encourages the government to offer majority representation, gives every eligible person a chance to run for office, speeds up the governing process for the country, gets more people to start participating in their local government, allows more ideas to become legislation

Cons: creates inconsistent governing patterns for the country, eliminates the idea of having 100% representation of personal ideas, forces the parties into a fixed (but still changing) set of political views, limits the number of new ideas that can be introduced to the electorate, reduces the concept of individuality in governing, creates a system of exclusiveness, is a system which limits the choices of the voter, creates pattern of voting based on name recognition, eventually leads to societal polarization

What are the pros and cons of multiparty systems?

Pros: May promote electoral participation by opposing political forces, may encourage voter participation (more choices), enhances electoral transparency, ensures political party input to policy development, ensures links with critical electoral stakeholders, brings political experience to the management of electoral processes

Cons: members' actions may be motivated by political interest, may not have appropriate professional experience or qualifications, may be unwieldy if all parties are represented, may lack credibility if some parties are excluded or if political parties are not respected, may find consensus decision-making difficult, unity may suffer due to public disputes between parties

What type of electoral OR appointment system does each country have for its executive and legislative branches? What are the system's key rules or regulatory bodies that either a) allow for the competitive selection of representatives, or b) serve the dominant political interest?

-Understand why each country chose its electoral or appointment system. Was it... to increase political stability, include a diversity of viewpoints, represent minority groups, guarantee competition, reduce voter fraud, "manage" democracy, prevent opposition success, and/or maintain power

-What are the term limits in each country? What are the advantages and disadvantages of term limits?

UK Electoral/Appointment System

Monarch: appointed by God (really just a hereditary appointment though)

PM: Indirectly elected; 5 year term; no term limits; chosen by majority vote in commons (by tradition, the PM must also win a seat to be eligible to serve)

House of Commons: direct election, plurality, system ("First Past the Post"); five year term; no limits

House of Lords: appointed by the monarch to "life peerages" (really the PM proposes it and the monarch approves it)

-Monarch is "appointed" as a sign of the UK's permanence (just for show/tradition)

-Increase political stability, include diversity of viewpoints, and represent minority groups

Mexico Electoral/Appointment System

President: directly elected executive; plurality vote; limited to one six year term ("sexeno")

Chamber of Deputies: directly elected, four year term, 3 term limit, combination of SMPD and PR

Senate: directly elected, six year term, two term limit, combination of SMPD+PR (all 3 senators per state cannot be from the same party)

-All of these were to ensure a diversity of viewpoints (they wanted to eliminate the chances of having another one-party state like the PRI)

Nigeria Electoral/Appointment System

President: directly elected executive, qualified plurality vote; four year term, two term limit (but to win, the candidate must get at least 25% of the vote in 2/3 of the states)

House of Representatives: direct election; four year terms; no limits; single member district plurality

Senate: direct election; four year terms; no term limits; single member district plurality

-Executive must at least get 25% of the vote from 2/3 of the states to ensure that the entire country somewhat approves the new president (Nigeria doesn't want one ethnic group/religion to choose the executive)

-Executive must also alternate regions (north and south) (this is also done to ensure that an ethnic group doesn't just pick an executive)

-House of Representatives and Senate have SMDP to increase political stability

Russia Electoral/Appointment System

President: direct election; majority system with runoff; six year term; two term limit; appoints the PM (does NOT have to be a member of the legislature)

Duma: direct election; five year term limit; no limits (1/2 PR, 1/2 SMDP)

Federation Council: appointed; 17 by the president; remaining 1/2 appointed by regional governors; 1/2 by regional legislatures

-Prez=elected by majority with runoff for political stability

-PM appointed by Prez so that the PM does what the prez wants

-Duma has SMDP and PR to represent both people and how much a party is liked by Russians

-Federation Council=mostly appointed by states so that states would have a say

Iran Electoral/Appointment System

Supreme Leader: Indirect election; appointed by the Assembly of Experts for life

Assembly of Experts (Religious): must be Islamic "jurists;" combo of SMDP and multi-member districts; plurality with runoffs; 8 year term; no limits

Guardian Council (Religious/"Secular"): 1/2 appointed by SL; 1/2 by Chief Judge; may strike candidates from the ballot

President (Secular): Direct election; majority system with runoff; four year term; 2 term limit

Majlis (Secular): Combination of SMDP and multi-member districts; plurality with runoffs; four year term; no limits

-SL appointed for life to have an experienced cleric in office

-Assembly of Experts=elected for political stability and include a diversity viewpoints (so regions have a say in electing them)

-Guardian Council: appointed by SL and Chief Judge so that both Islam and judiciary impacts it

-Prez=elected for political stability

-Majlis=elected for political stability and representing a diversity of viewpoints

China Electoral/Appointment System

President: "elected" by National People's Congress; 6 year term; no limits

Defacto Executive->General Secretary: appointed by Politburo Standing Committee

National People's Congress: "elected" by regional councils; 5 year terms; no limits; only options are candidates approved by the CCP

-President=to "show" (or at least fake) legitimacy (make people think they have a voice)

-General Secretary=since power is controlled in the Politburo Standing Committee and so that the CCP is the only party in China with power

-National People's Congress=candidates chosen by CCP so that it continues to hold total power in China

What are the advantages and disadvantages of term limits?

Advantages: no consolidation of power, introduces new ideas, gets rid of bad officials, consolidates democracy, increases likelihood of alternation of power

Disadvantages: less experienced officials, no long-term vision or plans, reduces accountability to constituents and increases loyalty to party

What type of party system does each country have?

Single-party dominant (dominant party), party state (the party is the state), two-party, multi-party

UK Party System

traditionally a two party system (Labour and Conservatives)

Mexico Party System

multi-party (PRI, PAN, PRD, MORENA), formerly dominant-party

Nigeria Party System

multi-party

-may be two-party though (APC and PDP)

Russia Party System

dominant party (United Russia)

China Party System

Party-state (CCP is the state)

Iran Party System

-multi-party

-"no party" system, but multiple electoral alliances (Principalists coaltion and reformists coalition)

How are party systems regulated by the government to allow or decrease competition?

Increase: electoral reforms, independent election agencies, decreasing patronage, selling public assets (e.g. state-owned enterprises)

Decrease: party registration requirements, disqualification of candidates, limiting media access, ballot requirements, eliminating elected offices

Electoral Reforms

changes in the procedures by which representatives are elected such as quotas or the adoption of PL/PR systems

Independent election agencies

Agencies that are independent and oversee elections in a country

-e.g. National Electoral Institute in Mexico

Decreasing Patronage

Decreasing patron-clientele relations (no "quid-pro-quo")

Government selling public assets (e.g. state-owned enterprises)

Gives more political and economic power to the people than the government (takes power away from the government)

Party registration requirements

Party must register with the government, which can decide whether to accept it or not

Disqualification of candidates

The government can decide which candidates can run or not (e.g. Guardian Council in Iran)

Limiting media access

Limiting the amount of information a party can put out to potential voters and supporters

Ballot requirements

fees, petition signatures required to appear on ballots

-For proportional representation, parties need at least a certain percentage of the votes to be included in the legislative/executive branch

-this decreases competition by making it harder for smaller parties to run

Eliminating elected offices

Government can remove elected officials from office

What are the characteristics of the major political parties in each country? Catch-all? Ideological? Parties of power? Are the parties highly disciplined (e.g. bloc voting)?

China: CCP; Iran: no formal parties, lose coalitions; Mexico: PRI, PAN, PRD/Morena; Nigeria: APC/PDP; Russia: United Russia, Communists, Decoy Parties; UK: Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrats, regional parties (e.g. SNP)

CCP

Ideology: Communism

Platform key views: Hate the west, fight corruption, improve economy

Electoral Success or Obstacles: Extremely high electoral success

Pol Spectrum: Left

Principalists

Ideology: Islamic Theocracy

Platform key views: Teach everyone Islam, end corruption, bring back the ideas from the revolution, loyal to Supreme Leader

Electoral Success or Obstacles: High electoral success (due to controlling Guardian Council)

Pol Spectrum: Right

Reformists

Ideology: Reform

Platform key views: To democratize Iran, hold government officials accountable, support peace through democratic peace

Electoral Success or Obstacles: Little electoral success (guardian council vets out many candidates)

Pol Spectrum: Center

PRI Party

Ideology: Neo-liberalism

Platform key views: slightly conservative, social justice, accountability, improve education, seems more authoritarian

Electoral Success or Obstacles: 70 years of success in the past but not as much recently

Pol Spectrum: Center-right

PAN

Ideology: Conservative extremely

Platform key views: supports no abortion, against same sex, limit government interference

Electoral Success or Obstacles: They don't win a lot

Pol Spectrum: Center right

Note: the center right party that was the first party to win presidential elections after the break-down of one-party rule; the leading right of center opposition party in mexico.

-socially conservative, but has a heavy dose of Catholicism and more pro-business

PRD

Party of the Democratic Revolution. Mexico's main left-of-center opposition party.

-socialist

-politically left

Morena

New leftist political party formed by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a two-time presidential candidate for the PRD

-AMLO made the group since PRD wouldn't let him run for office

-socialist with a dose of populism

-politically left

APC

Ideology: Progressive; social populist

Platform key views: get rid of corruption, progressivism, socialist democracy, focus on welfare and security, free education, healthcare

Electoral Success or Obstacles: High electoral success (won the most recent prez election and won the majority in both the House and Senate)

Pol Spectrum: Center-left

All-Progressives Congress

-Center-left

-Not all too different from PDP, but is just slightly more to the left

-Formed since the PDP split; some people were upset that the PDP wouldn't let them run for office

PDP

Ideology: Neo-liberalism

Platform key views: democratic ideals, increase rights for minorities, transparency and accountability, deregulation, welfare, healthcare, no corruption

Electoral Success or Obstacles: from 1998-2015, PDP had dominated prez elections but since 2015 it hasn't won presidential elections nor legislature

Pol Spectrum: center-right

Center-right

-Not all too different from APC, but is just slightly more to the right

United Russia

Ideology: Unitary state

Platform key views: restore Russia, made for working class

Electoral Success or Obstacles: won all elections

Pol Spectrum: Center Right

a major political party in the Russian Federation. United Russia supports President Dmitry Medvedev, and is currently the largest political party in the Russian Federation. On April 15, 2008, Vladimir Putin accepted the nomination to become chairman of the party

-socially conservative, highly nationalist, good ties with Orthodox Church, they don't have a platform (it's not needed)

Communists

Ideology: Marxist-Leninist practice

Platform key views: communist party, all industries, Soviet Union fall

Electoral Success or Obstacles: second biggest party in Russia after United Russia (but still doesn't have power)

Pol Spectrum: left

United Russia's genuine opposition

Decoy Parties

Parties that appear like opposition of another party but in reality just vote with it

-A Just Russia

Labour Party

Ideology: Democratic socialist

Platform key views: workers' rights, environmental sustainability, economic equality (tax reform), progressive taxes

Electoral Success or Obstacles: not that much recently, won mayoral election in London, controls ~35% of House of Commons

Pol Spectrum: Center-left

A center-left political party in the United Kingdom; founded at the start of the 20th century, it has been seen since 1920 as the principal party of the Left in England, Scotland and Wales. Labour first surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s.

Conservatives

Ideology: Socialism and neo-liberalism

Platform key views: be regulation-free, preserve monarchy, reunite police force,

Electoral Success or Obstacles: successfully in power

Pol Spectrum: center-right

the main centre-right political party in the United Kingdom. Their policies usually promote conservatism and British Unionism. After a leadership election, Boris Johnson became leader of the Party.

Liberal Democrats

a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom. The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party.

Regional Parties (e.g. SNP)

SNP:

Ideology: Individualism

Platform key views: Scottish independence, protect minorities, open economy

Electoral Success or Obstacles: A lot better regionally in Scotland, not a lot of national support

Pol Spectrum: center-left

Regional parties don't really do well in national elections, but do well in regional elections (e.g. SNP in Scotland)

-Some regional party members don't even show up to UK House of Commons since they believe it's illegitimate

How do political parties in each country link the citizenry to the government? How much does each system allow the people to politically participate and influence policymaking?

China: doesn't link citizenry to the government and doesn't given people the ability to politically participate and influence policymaking (since it's all made at the Politburo Standing Committee)

Iran: little link between citizenry to the government and not much ability to politically participate and influence policymaking since the Supreme Leader has the final say in everything and the Guardian Council vets out candidates (e.g. Reformists)

Mexico: good link between citizenry and government and gives people the ability to politically participate and influence policymaking (but not as good as the UK)

Nigeria: good link between citizenry and government and gives people the ability to politically participate and influence policymaking (but not as good as the UK)

Russia: not a good link between citizenry and government and gives people little ability to politically participate and influence policymaking since Putin controls executive and legislative branches and removes any political opposition

UK: good link between citizenry and government and gives people the ability to politically participate and influence policymaking

What is the role of interest groups in each country? How much control does each government have over interest groups?

Pluralism, Corporatism, Top-Down

Pluralism

-Competition to influence policy

-Autonomous from the state=part of the civil society

Corporatism

-Mixed: some autonomy

-Government controls access (how often groups meet w/ the government); uses state sanctioned groups (decides which groups are allowed to exist) or single peak association (groups that represent a particular area of the economy; hand-chosen by the government and make recommendations to governments)

-Happens in both authoritarian countries and democratic countries

Top-Down

-"Transmission Vehicles"

-Communicate messages from the state