Comparative Elections Mid

Parliamentary 

Executive (government) is elected by the legislature

The executive can be removed by a vote of the legislature Executive cannot be removed by the legislature the principle of legislative

the principle of legislative supremacy



Presidential

Executive is elected by direct vote (usually popular vote)

Executive cannot be removed by the legislature



Semi Presidential

Two types: premier-presidentialism (like France); and presidential-parliamentary (like Russia).In the latter, the president has more powers (for example, to remove the Prime Minister)



Division of Powers in France

President:

• Guarantor of national independence and the constitution

• Heads the armed forces and negotiates treaties

• Calls referendums and presides over the Council of Ministers

• Can dissolve the National Assembly (but cannot veto legislation)

• Appoints (but cannot dismiss) the prime minister

• Appoints and dismisses ministers (on the PM’s recommendation)



Prime Minister:

• Primarily handles domestic affairs ("the price of milk" – de Gaulle)

• Appointed by the president but accountable to the National Assembly

• Formally appoints ministers and coordinates their work

• Operates within the president’s style and tone

• Can be forced to resign via a vote of censure, maintaining the parliamentary component of the semi-presidential system



Unicaramel

  • One legislative house

  • Favors majority

  • Can hear thoroughly from fewer points of view

  • More transparent



Bicaramel

  • Upper and lower legislative houses

  • Upends simple majority rule

  • Can hear more points 

  • Less transparent



Political Parties

  • Organizations with party-like characteristics are found in all representative

Democracies.

  • “Political parties are collective entities that organize competitions for political offices.

  • members of a political party contest elections under a shared label.” Political

parties usually consist of more than a single interest in the society. (exceptions apply). Yet, Prioritization of issues often occur.

  • In PR-List, Member of parliament is not elected for their specific traits, but for their party affiliation (“being on the list”).

  • In parliamentary systems, parties have especially important roles. All parties may have a say in electing the executive (Prime Minister). The executive (PM) is usually the head of the largest party.

  • In Presidential systems, there may be divided government (executive is not the head of the largest / majority parties in parliament).



Coalition

Definition of coalition: two or more of non-majority parties that pool their strength (i.e., their parliamentary seats) in the parliament to create a majority bloc for the purpose of

supporting a Government (=can control the position of prime minister and the positions in the cabinet).



Forming Coalitions

1.Based on negotiations and compromises.

2.Expressed in a formal agreement.

3.Coalition discipline has to be enforced.

4.Coalition agreements do not necessarily mean that parties like each other, or trust each other, or want to work together; they simply mean that the party actors see cooperation—often temporary cooperation—as the way to get political power.



Electoral Thresholds

1. The electoral threshold is the minimum percentage of votes a party must receive to gain representation in a legislature. It is mostly used in proportional representation (PR) systems.

2. Prevents excessive fragmentation by limiting very small parties.

3. A higher electoral threshold benefits larger parties.



US Voting Agenda

Economy is usually the top issue, with healthcare and national security as second and third



Strategic Voting

Strategic voting (also called tactical voting) is when voters cast their ballots not for their preferred candidate or party but for the option they believe has the best chance of achieving a desired outcome. It often occurs in systems where voters feel constrained by electoral rules, such as plurality/majoritarian systems or proportional systems

with high thresholds.



Primary Elections 

Primary elections are preliminary elections designed to allow voters to select a party's candidate for a subsequent general election. They serve to democratize the candidate selection process within political parties, enabling broader participation from the electorate. This system contrasts with other methods like party conventions or appointments, where candidate selection is confined to party elites.



Variations:

United Kingdom: Candidate selection is typically managed internally by political parties without a public primary election

France: Some parties hold primaries, but it's not a universal practice across all parties.

Argentina: Employs a system of compulsory primaries, known as PASO (Primarias Abiertas Simultáneas y Obligatorias), where all parties participate in a simultaneous primary election, and any party receiving less than 1.5% of the vote is not permitted to contest the main elections.



Differences between primaries in a plurality/majority setting and in party-list setting

• In SMP/Majority systems, you need to elect one candidate, who will individually

run in the general elections.

• Thus, primary elections in such systems look similar in method to the general

election (plurality is needed to win the primaries).

• In PR-list systems, you choose a list of candidates, i.e., there is more than one

eventual winner: all the list needs to be formed.

• Thus, these primary elections work more like a “multi-member plurality,” party

members can vote for several candidates; or may be ranked (as in the

preferential system).



Participation

Participation -> Candidates -> Systemic obstacles

-> Legal disqualification 

Participation -> Votes -> Legal Disenfranchisement

   -> Voluntary non-participation