Unit 5: Party and Electoral Systems and Citizens Organizations

Electoral Systems

The formal rules and procedures for selecting the executive or members of the legislature

• vote for those who will represent them rather than voting on policy

• two main system for the direct election of the executive: Plurality and Two Round System

Plurality System

the candidate with the most votes in a single election becomes the executive 

• discourages third party since voters are encouraged to vote only for one of the two biggest parties or risk having their voted not counted for

Ex: US and Mexico

Plurality v. Majority

Duverger’s Law (relationship between the number of parties in a country and it’s electoral system)

states that plurality-rule elections in single-member districts tend to lead to a two-party system

Two-Round System

electing an executive, if no candidate earns a majority of the vote in the first election, a second election, called a runoff election, is held between the top two vote-getters

• after the second round of voting the candidate with the majority votes wins the election

• Ex: Russia, Nigeria, Iran

Constituency

the people who live and vote within the geographic area represented by an elected official

• geographic area that an elected official represents

Constituent

resident of a specific geographic area who is represented by an elected official

Single Member Districts (SMDs)

a system for electing members of the legislature in which the candidate who earns the most votes (plurally) in a district wins a seat in the legislature

First-past-the-post (FPTP)

a voting system where candidates with the most votes win, regardless of whether they have a majority or not

Multimember Districts (MMDs)

method of electing members of a legislature in which two or more representatives are elected from a district

Proportional Representation (PR)

representatives are chosen nationally and seats in the legislature are awarded proportionally according to the percentage of vote for each party

Thresholds

the minimum requirements needed to trigger certain actions

Coalition Governments

a governing alliance in a parliamentary system where multiple political parties join forces to form a working legislative majority

Ranked Lists

a common form of PR system, where each party offers the candidates for all the seats in legislature. People can see this a know who the top candidates are, but they vote for the party

Mixed Systems

combining elements of SMD and PR into electoral systems rsulting in this hybrid

Party system

the number and strength of political parties within a country

• democratic systems have a least 2 or more parties (the main and then off to the side) because the democratic states have free and fair elections requiring competition

• An authoritarian state (like China) has one party also called a single party state

• one party will dominate the executive branch and most seats in legislative but other parties still have some representation

single party states

allow only one party to control government (this can be an authoritarian state)

• Ex: China

dominant party system

Where multiple parties exists but only one party dominates the executive branch and most seats in legislative but other parties still have some representation

• This is seen in Russia

• the ruling party maintains power not only through its popularity but also through manipulations of the electoral system, controlling government resources, or through intimidation

two party systems

only two parties are able to garner enough votes to win an election and control the government, although more may compete

• Ex: US and UK

mulitparty systems

more than two parties can win a national election and control the government

• Ex: Mexico

catch-all parties

parties with broad enough appeal to gain the most support in a district. The two major parties take ideologically diverse, usually middle-of-the-road positions to capture as many voters as possible

interest groups

associations of individuals or businesses that attempt to influence the government

• claim to represent clearly defined interests that their members share, such as protecting the environment, advancing civil rights, or representing a profession or industry

• formal organizations (but can be regulated by the government)

• participate in the political process in an effort to get the policies they favor enacted into law

• concern that they have too much power and influence over policy due to wealth (able to “buy” people to do what they want such as the legislation due to large donations or corruption)

• worry with the decline of face-to-face contact

• ex: NRA, ACLU, AARP, NAACP

pluralism

a system in which groups are allowed to form and advocate for their interests outside of government control (think fed 10.)

• many groups may exist to represent the same broad interest, and all groups can compete to gain influence

• multiple groups in this system compete for influence over a single issue, giving citizens a way to participate in government

corporatism

a system in which the state controls interest groups and chooses the ones it wishes to recognize (oversees them.. connected to the government)

social movement

groups that have a loosely defined organizational structure and seek major socioeconomic or political changes through collective action

grassroots movement

created when citizens at the local level band together to advocate a cause