Electoral System Effects on Gender Representation: The Case of Mixed Systems

2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Vengroff ◽  
Lucy Creevey ◽  
Henry Krisch
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
National Office ◽  
Institutional Differences ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mixed Systems ◽  
Rules Of The Game

Electoral systems as endogenous re-distributive institutions (Tsebelis, 1990) help to define the rules of the game. In this manner they have an important impact among regional, class, ethnic, gender, and other sub-groups of the general population on the distribution and variation in outcome of who is nominated for, and elected to, national office. In particular, there is a well-established and growing literature on the impact of electoral systems and electoral system reform on the representation of women in national legislative bodies (Darcy, Welch, and Clarke 1994; Matland and Taylor 1997; Caul 1998; Rule 1987; Matland 1998). In general, these studies have concluded that more women are elected in proportional rather than in plurality or majority electoral systems. However, a major difficulty in interpreting these findings is created by the historical, cultural, economic, and institutional differences among cases chosen for comparison.

scholarly journals The Impact of Candidate Selection Rules and Electoral Vulnerability on Legislative Behaviour in Comparative Perspective

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge M. Fernandes ◽  
Lucas Geese ◽  
Carsten Schwemmer
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Systems Design ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Candidate Selection ◽  
Selection Rules ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cross System ◽  
Mixed Systems

Legislators are political actors whose main goal is to get re-elected. They use their legislative repertoire to help them to cater to the interests of their principals. In this paper, we argue that we need to move beyond treating electoral systems as monolithic entities, as if all legislators operating under the same set of macro-rules shared the same set of incentives. Rather, we need to account for within-system variation, namely, candidate selection rules and individual electoral vulnerability. Using a most different systems design, we turn to Germany, Ireland, and Portugal to leverage both cross-system and within-system variation. We use an original dataset of 345.000 parliamentary questions. Findings show that candidate selection rules blur canonical electoral system boundaries. Electoral vulnerability has a similar effect in closed-list and mixed-systems, but not in preferential voting settings.

5. Winning and Losing Elections

2021 ◽  
pp. 146-180
Author(s):  
Peter John
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
Number Of Parties ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Rules Of The Game ◽  
Developing Strategies

This chapter assesses what politicians and members of political parties really care about: getting into office on the back of a successful election campaign. Rather than the general determinants of voting outlined in the previous chapter, this is about the choices voters and parties face within a particular system, so they can organize themselves to win. For that they need to play by the rules of the game, which includes developing strategies within electoral systems. The chapter then discusses the impact of electoral systems on that calculus, and how the number of parties is affected by the electoral system in place. It also looks at the factors that assist the winning of elections, and the extent to which the choices of parties and voters are affected by growing instability in the system. Overall, the chapter provides an overview of British political parties and party systems.

Special elections in alternative vote electoral systems: Exploring turnout and the vote in Irish by-elections 1923–2019

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110457
Author(s):  
Stephen Quinlan
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Government Performance ◽  
Multifaceted Approach ◽  
Decisive Effect ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Alternative Vote ◽  
National Economic ◽  
The Impact

Most literature on special elections has focused on first-past-the-post contests and on the performance of governments. Turnout, candidates, and how the electoral system impacts the result have received less attention. This contribution fills these voids by exploring special elections in Ireland, elections conducted under the alternative vote system. Taking a multifaceted approach, it investigates the correlates of turnout, the impact of candidates and the decisive effect of lower preferences, while also testing multiple explanations of government performance. I find Irish special elections live up to the by-election truisms of lower turnout and government loss. Government performance is associated with national economic conditions. By-election victory is more likely among candidates with familial lineage and former members of parliament. Where they come into play, one in five candidates owe their victory to lower preferences.

The Impact of the District’s Magnitude on the Gender Composition of the Municipal Deputy Corps

2021 ◽  
pp. 43
Author(s):  
Ruslan S. Mukhametov
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Gender Composition ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
City Councils ◽  
Electoral District ◽  
Statistical Program ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

The purpose of the study is to explain the difference in the proportion of women deputies in the representative bodies of different municipalities. The author assesses the impact of the electoral districts size on the gender composition of municipal legislative bodies (dumas). A review of theoretical and empirical works shows that more women are elected to Parliament under the proportional representation system than under the majority system with single-mandate constituencies. According to the author, the decisive factor is not the type of the electoral system, but the size of the electoral district. Two working hypotheses were formulated. According to the first, representative bodies of municipalities, whose elections are held according to a majority system with multi-member districts, will have a higher representation of women than local dumas which are formed on the basis of a majority system with single-member districts. According to the second hypothesis, higher representation of women in the deputy corps of settlements can be associated with the holding of elections under the majority system with multi-mandate districts. To test the proposed hypotheses in the context of municipalities, empirical material was collected. The study was carried out on the data from the Sverdlovsk region. The database of indicators of municipalities of Rosstat, as well as the official websites of local administrations were used as the source of information. The method of multiple linear regression is used as the main research method. The data was analyzed with the Gretl applied statistical program. Statistical calculations have revealed a positive and statistically significant impact of multi-mandate constituencies-based elections on the proportion of women in the deputy corps, which contributes to the study of gender aspects of politics. It is shown that the size of the electoral district is important for the representation of women in the city councils. The article notes that the transition to holding elections of deputies on the basis of a majority system with multi-mandate districts will help increase the proportion of women in municipal representative bodies.

7. Elections and voting

UK Politics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 145-169
Author(s):  
Andrew Blick
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
National Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Different Types ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

This chapter looks at how voting helps people to take a direct role in politics. The chapter discusses the rules by which the electoral system operates. It discusses the different types of electoral systems used in the UK. It connects General Elections and the formation of government at the national level. The chapter then offers a number of theoretical perspectives from which to consider voting in terms of fairness, mandates, and effectiveness. The chapter looks at the impact of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act 2011 and how the integrity of elections is maintained. Finally, it looks at the plan to equalize the size and reduce the number of UK parliamentary constituencies.

Reforming the Algerian electoral system

2005 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 393-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youcef Bouandel
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Survival Strategy ◽  
Political Reforms ◽  
Incumbent Regime ◽  
The Impact

In October 1988, Algeria began a process of transition from authoritarianism. Political reforms were introduced, on the surface, to facilitate the process of transition, but in reality to ensure the survival of the incumbent regime. The reform of the electoral system played a significant part in this survival strategy. Between 1989 and 1997, Algeria witnessed the adoption of three distinct electoral systems as the authorities sought ways to give a façade of democratisation while manipulating the rules to suit their purposes. This paper looks at the Algerian transition, asks why the Algerian authorities switched from one system to another, and assesses the impact of the three different electoral systems that the country has experienced.

scholarly journals MIXED INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL SYSTEM AND ELECTORAL AUTHORITARISM

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
V. А. Usova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Mixed System ◽  
The Past ◽  
Electoral Authoritarianism ◽  
National Legislatures ◽  
Mixed Systems ◽  
Cross National

Over the past decade, the mixed system became the fastest growing variety of electoral systems used in elections for national legislatures. Opinions about the reasons for the popularity of mixed systems in the research literature still vary. There are no cross-national studies in political science that would link the use of a mixed independent electoral system with the consolidation of an authoritarian order. Under authoritarianism, elections perform three functions: imitation, control and signaling. These functions set the structure of incentives for choosing an electoral formula. The purpose of my study is to determine the structure of incentives for the employment of mixed independent electoral systems under conditions of electoral authoritarianism. One of the main results of the study is that, in comparison with democracies, mixed independent electoral systems are more often used in authoritarian regimes. This is due to the fact that mixed independent electoral system provides an opportunity to effectively realize the imitation, control and signaling functions of elections under electoral authoritarianism.

scholarly journals The Impact of Electoral System Reform on Taiwan's Local Factions

2012 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Göbel
Keyword(s):  
Organized Crime ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
System Reform ◽  
Vote Buying ◽  
Initial Test ◽  
Rural County ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Electoral Mobilization ◽  
The Impact

In 2004, the single non-transferable vote (SNTV) was abolished in Taiwan. The SNTV had long been seen as a major factor in the sustenance of county- and township-level clientelist networks (“local factions”). It was also associated with phenomena such as extremism, candidate-centred politics, vote-buying, clientelism and organized crime involvement in politics. More recent scholarship, however, has led to doubts that a single formal institution like an electoral system could have such a powerful influence on electoral mobilization. This article puts these positions to an initial test. It examines the impact of the electoral reform on the mobilization capacity of a local faction in a rural county notorious for its factionalism. By illuminating its intricate mobilization structures, it provides support for the second position: These structures are too resilient to be affected by even a radical electoral reform.

Personal vote, spatial registration rules, and party system nationalization in Latin America

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Pin Su
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Party System ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Spatial Registration ◽  
Party Registration ◽  
The Impact

While many studies of party system nationalization examine the effects of various institutional factors, few take into account the impact of party formation cost. This paper aims to fill the empirical gap by focusing on the interactive effect of electoral systems and party registration rules. I argue that the effect of electoral systems on party system nationalization is conditional on spatial registration rules, a requirement that requires a party to collect signatures or organize local branches in a specified geographical manner to maintain the party’s legal status. Based on data for 97 legislative elections in 18 Latin American countries from 1978 to 2011, the empirical analysis demonstrates that a country with an electoral system that encourages a personal vote tends to have a much lower level of party system nationalization when that country does not have spatial registration requirements. The result is robust across different model specifications and estimation techniques.

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