elections parties and campaign

🧠 MASTER NOTES — ELECTIONS, PARTIES, AND CAMPAIGNS (FINAL)

🔹 1. POLITICAL PARTIES (FOUNDATION)

  • Legislatures are divided along party lines

  • Parties structure competition during campaigns

What are political parties?

  • Organizations that:

    • Compete in elections

    • Try to gain power

    • Represent ideas/interests

📌 CORE IDEA:

Parties are the main actors in elections

What do parties do?

  • Organize candidates

  • Present policy platforms

  • Structure choices for voters

📌 REPEAT (important):

Without parties → elections would be chaotic

🔹 2. PARTY SYSTEMS

Definition:

  • The number and type of parties in a political system

Key comparison:

Canada

  • Multi-party system (~3–5 parties)

United States

  • Two-party system

WHY does this happen?

👉 Electoral systems shape party systems

📌 CORE IDEA (VERY IMPORTANT):

Rules of elections determine how many parties survive

🔹 3. ELECTORAL SYSTEM (CORE CONCEPT)

Definition:

A set of rules that determine how votes are cast and converted into seats

Electoral systems determine:

  • How you vote

  • How votes are counted

  • Who wins

📌 CORE IDEA:

Electoral systems = rules of the game

🔹 4. SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICT PLURALITY (FPTP)

Definition:

  • One district → one winner

  • Candidate with most votes wins

Key features:

  • Voters pick ONE candidate

  • No need for majority

Example countries:

  • Canada

  • US

  • UK

Strengths:

  • Simple

  • Clear winner

  • Stable governments

Weaknesses:

  • “Wrong winner” problem

  • Wasted votes

  • Not representative

📌 CORE IDEA:

Winning ≠ majority support

🔹 5. ALTERNATIVE VOTE (RANKED)

Definition:

  • Voters rank candidates

How it works:

  1. Count first choices

  2. Eliminate lowest

  3. Redistribute votes

  4. Repeat until majority

Key feature:

  • Winner must have majority

📌 CORE IDEA:

Ensures broader support than FPTP

🔹 6. PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION (PR)

Definition:

  • Seats reflect percentage of votes

List PR:

  • Vote for party (not individual)

  • Parties get seats proportional to votes

Closed list:

  • Party decides candidate order

Effects:

  • More parties

  • More representation

📌 CORE IDEA:

Vote share ≈ seat share

🔹 7. MAJORITARIAN VS PROPORTIONAL

Majoritarian (FPTP)

  • One winner per district

  • Focus on districts

👉 Result:

  • Fewer parties

  • Strong governments

  • Less representation

Proportional (PR)

  • Seats reflect total votes

👉 Result:

  • More parties

  • Coalition governments

  • Better representation

📌 CORE IDEA (VERY TESTABLE):

Stability vs representation trade-off

🔹 8. STRATEGIC VOTING (VERY IMPORTANT)

Definition:

  • Voting for a less preferred but viable candidate

Why it happens:

  • Fear of wasting vote

  • System incentives

Example:

  • Favorite candidate = 15%

  • You switch to 42% candidate

  • To block 43% candidate

📌 CORE IDEA:

Electoral systems shape voter behavior

🔹 9. WHY ELECTORAL SYSTEMS MATTER

They affect:

  • Representation

  • Party systems

  • Voter behavior

  • Outcomes

📌 CORE IDEA (repeat):

Electoral systems shape EVERYTHING

🔹 10. ELECTORAL SYSTEM TRADE-OFFS

Majoritarian:

  • ✔ Stability

  • ❌ Less fair representation

Proportional:

  • ✔ Fair representation

  • ❌ Less stable governments

📌 CORE IDEA:

No perfect system — only trade-offs

🔹 11. FPTP PROBLEMS (EXAM GOLD)

1. Wrong winner

  • Party wins seats without most votes

2. Close race distortion

  • Small vote difference → big seat difference

3. Lopsided majority

  • Huge majority with limited support

📌 Example:

  • 2001 BC election

📌 CORE IDEA:

FPTP distorts representation

🔹 12. ELECTORAL SYSTEM CHANGE

Canada:

  • Multiple reform attempts

  • BC referendums (since 2005)

  • Trudeau 2015 promise

  • Yukon plebiscite

Why reform is rare:

  • Winners benefit from current system

📌 CORE IDEA:

Those in power don’t change winning rules

🔹 13. CAMPAIGNS + PARTISANSHIP

Campaigns:

  • Influence voters

  • Provide information

BUT:

👉 Main driver = partisanship

Partisanship:

  • Long-term loyalty to a party

📌 CORE IDEA:

Campaigns matter, but identity matters more

🔹 14. BIG THEORY (MOST IMPORTANT)

Electoral systems:

  • Shape:

    • Parties

    • Votes

    • Outcomes

📌 FINAL CORE IDEA (MEMORIZE):

Rules of the game determine winners

🔹 15. FINAL CONCLUSION (EXAM READY)

  • Electoral systems differ in how they translate votes into seats

  • They shape party systems and voter behavior

  • Each system involves trade-offs

  • Campaigns matter, but partisanship dominates

🧠 HOW TO ANSWER EXAM QUESTIONS

“Why do electoral systems matter?”

→ They shape:

  • representation

  • party systems

  • voter behavior

“FPTP vs PR?”

→ FPTP:

  • simple, stable

  • less representative

→ PR:

  • fair, inclusive

  • less stable

“Why is reform rare?”

→ Winners don’t change rules