Ch. 17.1: Voting Methods The mathematical/sociological study of voting methods is more properly referred to as Social Choice Theory. It is a very important and hotly-debated subject, for obvious reasons! Methods of voting have been developed and debated since democracy in ancient Athens (probably earlier). It was in 1785 that a French philosopher named Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat (the Marquis of Condorcet) published two foundational mathematical results, now known as Condorcet’s Jury Theorem, and
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Different Voting systems and Fast Past the Post advantages and Disadvantages Fast Past the Post (FPTP) voting happens in single-party supporters. Voters put a cross in a case by their favored hopeful and the applicant with the most votes in the voting public wins. All different votes mean nothing. FPTP is the second most widely used voting system in the world. First Past the Post is defended is mainly based on grounds of simplicity and its tendency to produce winners who
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election. For example, the labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, Oona King, lost her seat in the 2010 general election, when her predominantly Muslim constituents voted her out of power, after her support for the Iraq war. Consequently, since under PR systems the link between constituents and representatives is significantly weakened due to much larger and multimember constituencies, e.g. AMS, FPTP produces stronger links, and thus should continue to be used for elections to the House of Commons. On the
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To what extent is First Past the Post a viable electoral system? First Past the Post, also commonly known as FPTP, is the main majoritarian system used in the UK. It has many effects, including usually resulting in a single party government, which therefore results in a strong government. The most important effect of FPTP is the election of a stable government that can stay in power for the full term, and govern effectively while also seeing decisions through. On this basis, FPTP has
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Change Toward Two-Round Voting The controversial 2000 election in America was an eye-opener for change in our electoral system. The third party with similarities to the Democrats had stolen votes from the two bigger parties running for presidency, therefore the Republicans won. Implementing two-round voting will eliminate the problem of third parties captivating votes away from larger parties. Although, this electoral system may take longer, two-round voting is vital to put into action for it will
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categorizing and validating the results. The proceedings consists of crucial and complicated tasks, like arranging the elections on the right date, verifying the eligibility of candidates, Registering eligible voters and arranging voter rolls, opt voting equipment, creating ballots and setting up a considerable amount of workers for the election day. One important function of the administrators is making sure that everyone who is qualified to vote is included in the list. People who haven’t voted
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First the past post • Representatives can get elected on tiny amounts of public support as it does not matter by how much they win, only that they get more votes than other candidates. • It encourages tactical voting, as voters vote not for the candidate they most prefer, but against the candidate they most dislike. • FPTP in effect wastes huge numbers of votes, as votes cast in a constituency for losing candidates, or for the winning candidate above the level they need to win that seat,
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the main principle behind a number of electoral systems and contrasts to the majoritarian principle, which would mean that literally, most votes wins. An example of a PR system is AMS; Additional member system; or STV; Single Transferrable vote. AMS is a hybrid system and only 1/3rd of the seats are elected via PR. This also uses the list system, in which voters choose between parties and not candidates. Highlight 3 arguments against plurality systems One disadvantage of FPTP is that the results
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are selected by Committee of Selection whose 7 out 9 members are ships. On the other hand, there are 11 members in the SCs and to eliminate “the conflict of interest, all the members are backbench members who are elected using the Alternative vote system. 2a What are the main functions of Parliament and how well does it perform them? [5] < This question is a 20-mark question > 3a What are the differences between direct and representative democracy? [5] In direct democracy, people are
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electoral systems other than First Past the Post (10 marks) Proportional systems such as closed party list are distinctly more in favour of smaller parties than most other systems. This is attributed to the fact that the percentage of votes cast in favour of a party directly corresponds to the percentage of seats they gain; this leads to an exceptionally more accurate result than majoritarian systems. Because of this, parties which are marginalised in a majoritarian or plurality system are not discounted
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