Ranked-Choice Voting in Maine and Global Electoral Reforms

Week 10

Ranked-Choice Voting in Maine: What Went Wrong?

Introduction

  • Geographical Context: Maine is the easternmost state in the United States and the largest state in New England.

  • Political Context: Maine is historically moderate and has strong independent voices. The largest voter block consists of Independents, accounting for 33.7% of the electorate.

  • Electoral System Prior to RCV: Before the implementation of ranked-choice voting (RCV), Maine utilized a plurality electoral system.

Institutional Reform

  • Citizen Initiative: A citizen petition in 2014 led to the proposal of ranked-choice voting being placed on the ballot in 2017.

  • Voting Outcome: Question 5 was passed with 52.047% of the votes, which allowed RCV to be implemented statewide.

  • Legal Challenges: Support for RCV emphasized its constitutionality; however, the State Supreme Court ruled that RCV could only be applied in state primary and federal elections due to the explicit mention of plurality elections in the state constitution regarding state legislature and governor's races.

Historical Context of Electoral Reforms in Other Countries

France

  • Fourth Republic Overview: Implemented a proportional parliamentary system characterized by a fragmented party system.

  • Historical Events: Key influencing factors included post-WW2 economic recovery, welfare expansions, and the impact of the Vichy regime during WWII, as well as the Algerian War and social decolonization.

  • Ideological Implications: Significant ideological polarization marked this era.

September 1958 Constitutional Reform

  • Constitutional Convention: Called for a constitutional convention that introduced a semi-presidential system featuring a dual executive.

  • Changes in Power Dynamics: It strengthened presidential authority while reducing legislative power, increasing the lifespan of cabinets from 6 months to 18-24 months.

  • Party System Restructuring: Transition to a two-round majoritarian system reinforced presidential power, resulting in party ideological consolidation.

  • New Governing Dynamics: The concept of "cohabitation" where presidents sometimes govern alongside opposition-led parliaments emerged, though legislative stability did not ease internal conflicts.

Japan in 1993

  • Reform Objectives: Aimed to address issues such as clientelism and factionalization.

  • Prior Electoral System: Japan had a single non-transferable vote (SNTV) system, allowing for the election of 3-5 members in each district. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) dominated due to clientelism.

  • System Replacement: Shifted towards a mixed electoral system using plurality rules, though concerns about money politics remained prevalent, leading to a decline in voter trust towards the government down to 33%.

  • Consequences: Issues of pork-barrel spending and corruption persisted, alongside reform in political party funding where LDP party funding was correlated with seat shares, unintentionally favoring the LDP.

Israel

Background and Political System

  • Foundation: Established in 1938 as a parliamentary democracy without a majority party.

Reform Outcomes and Evidence

  • Executive Strengthening: Aimed to increase executive power and stability while reducing the influence of individual political parties and promoting cohesive coalitions.

  • Actual Outcomes: Despite efforts, the effective number of significant legislative parties rose. Voters often backed major party platforms in multimodal voting scenarios, complicating coalitional bargaining.

  • Public Reaction: Initial enthusiasm waned as political instability increased, reflected in surveys showing declining public trust in political institutions.

United Kingdom: House of Lords Reform

Historical Background

  • Formation: The House of Lords originated from the British Parliament, evolving into a chamber reflecting the House of Commons.

  • Reform in 1963: Women were permitted into Parliament, helping modernize the legitimacy of the Upper House.

  • Reform Objectives: Aim to remove hereditary peers and replace them with appointments based on merit.

  • Opposition to Reform: Some argued removing hereditary peers could concentrate excessive power in the Prime Minister (PM), potentially enhancing government effectiveness and political representation.

Unintentional Consequences

  • Patronage: The reform unintentionally increased PM patronage within the institutional framework of the House of Lords.

Consequences of Electoral Reforms: California’s Prop 14

Overview

  • New System: Replaced the old partisan primary system, opening it to all registered voters.

  • Consequences of the New System:

    • Voters selected more candidates on average, contradicting the initial intention of Prop 14.

    • Increased accuracy of voter responses in primary elections compared to closed party systems.

    • Enhancement in voter turnout metrics across the board.

  • Partisan and Ideological Polarization: Despite structural changes, voters struggled with understanding the nuances of open ballots.

  • Public Confidence: Trust in government gradually increased, suggesting a positive direction in governance and broader civic engagement.

  • Access to Elections: Broadened voter access and increased overall turnout; facilitated same-party general elections and allowed moderate candidates to emerge.

  • Limitations: Struggled to fully address polarization issues and improve voter knowledge.

Italy: Post-WW2 Reforms

Background

  • Political Landscape: Italy post-WW2 saw significant pluralism with many parties leading to political fragmentation and coalition difficulties.

  • Reform Objective: Aimed at stabilizing governance, reducing corruption, and transforming fragmented coalitions into cohesive bodies.

Reform Outcomes

  • Mixed-Majoritarian System: Introduced to strengthen party stability and governance.

  • Political Consequences: Significant impact on the partisan landscape due to successful bipolarization, with two dominant coalitions alternating in power.

  • Increased Fragmentation: The overall number of parties increased as well as party fragmentation.

  • Electoral Turnout: Turnout averages initially increased before experiencing a steep decline in subsequent electoral cycles.

Scottish Devolution 1997

Background

  • Voting Dynamics: Only 33% of voters in Scotland supported the initial devolution, reflecting conservative backlash against Thatcher-era policies.

  • Institutional Reform: Legislative powers shifted from Westminster to the newly established Scottish Parliament, enabling Scottish autonomy in areas such as education, housing, health, and transport.

Consequences of Devolution

  • Rise of Scottish Nationalism: Strengthened calls for full independence from the UK, resulting in strained relations.

  • Legislative Imbalance: Westminster still retained solvency, highlighting ongoing power dynamics.

  • Potential for Change: Demonstrated that institutional change is possible and can manifest in various forms.

Understanding Democracy and Institutional Frameworks

Definitions and Components

  • Multiple Models: Democracy can be defined and measured through various frameworks and factors.

  • Core Component: The primary institutional component of modern representative democracy is the implementation of free and fair elections conducted by citizens.

Sources of Variation in Political Frameworks

  • Constitutional Differences: Includes rigidity, length, specificity, and the implications of judicial review.

  • Executive Systems: Variations involve presidential, hybrid, and parliamentary systems.

  • Legislatures: Structures can be unicameral or bicameral.

  • Vertical Relations: Includes distinctions between federal versus unitary systems, and centralized versus decentralized governance models.

  • Electoral Systems: Differentiates between majoritarian, mixed, and proportional systems.

Institutional Choices and Their Impacts

  • Democratic Models: Overall models can lean towards majoritarian or consensus systems, liberal or populist ideologies.

  • Veto Players and Policy Stability: The existence of veto players impacts the overall stability and functionality of policy implementation.

  • Impact on Political Representation and Public Policy: Institutional choices affect representation, participation, and redistribution efforts, ultimately influencing the size of the welfare state.

Unique Aspects of the US Democracy

  • Diverse Institutional Models: The US displays a combination of both consensual/liberal and majoritarian/populist features, notably exhibiting many institutional veto players and minority-privileging features, specifically within the Senate.

  • Majoritarian Electoral Influence: The US operates under a majoritarian electoral system and features a distinctive two-party system characterized by non-hierarchical parties, ultimately leading to low voter turnout and heightened economic inequality.

Reflection Assignment

  • Engage with the Treissman readings and note key trends, causative relationships, and reflections on ranked-choice voting systems in comparison to single member district systems as suggested by Duverger's Law.