The effects of electoral reform on party campaigns, voters and party systems at the local level: from single member plurality to the single transferable vote in Scotland

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Alistair Clark
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Single Transferable Vote

The Electoral System, the Party System and Accountability in Parliamentary Government

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 (3) ◽  
pp. 744-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHER KAM ◽  
ANTHONY M. BERTELLI ◽  
ALEXANDER HELD
Keyword(s):  
Policy Making ◽  
Party System ◽  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Parliamentary Government

Electoral accountability requires that voters have the ability to constrain the incumbent government’s policy-making power. We express the necessary conditions for this claim as an accountability identity in which the electoral system and the party system interact to shape the accountability of parliamentary governments. Data from 400 parliamentary elections between 1948 and 2012 show that electoral accountability is contingent on the party system’s bipolarity, for example, with parties arrayed in two distinct blocs. Proportional electoral systems achieve accountability as well as majoritarian ones when bipolarity is strong but not when it is weak. This is because bipolarity decreases the number of connected coalitions that incumbent parties can join to preserve their policy-making power. Our results underscore the limitations that party systems place on electoral reform and the benefits that bipolarity offers for clarifying voters’ choices and intensifying electoral competition.

Electoral Competition and the New Party System in Mexico

2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (02) ◽  
pp. 103-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph L. Klesner
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The South ◽  
Opposition Party ◽  
The North ◽  
Social Bases ◽  
Ideological Differences ◽  
Opposition Parties

Abstract Mexico's former opposition parties had specific social bases that would not, on their own, have catapulted either opposition party into power. In the 1990s, specific regional bases of support developed for the parties, reflecting their efforts to develop their organizations more locally. Nationally, this led to the emergence of two parallel two-party systems, PAN-PRI competition in the north and center-west and PRD-PRI competition in the south. In parallel, a proregime-antiregime cleavage came to dominate the Mexican party system, which, combined with local-level opposition efforts to oust the PRI, created new incentives for the opposition parties to abandon past emphases on ideological differences and to act like catch-all parties instead. The regime cleavage fostered the dealignment of the Mexican electorate, a process that promoted the development of catch-all parties. Movement within the parties to behave like catch-all parties has not come without internal tensions, but electoral dynamics prove powerful inducements to catch-all behavior.

The transfers game: A comparative analysis of the mechanical effect of lower preference votes in STV systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 019251212090792
Author(s):  
Stephen Quinlan ◽  
Hannah Schwarz
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Rank Order ◽  
Mechanical Effect ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Multivariate Approach ◽  
Single Transferable Vote ◽  
Female Candidates ◽  
Election Results

Debates about electoral reform revolve around giving voters more choice. Consequently, reformers often favor adopting the single transferable vote, a candidate-based system that allows voters to rank order candidates. Nonetheless, studies about whether lower preferences (transfers) influence STV election outcomes remain scant. To address this gap, our comparative multivariate approach tests transfers’ impact on election results in Ireland, Malta, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. We find that, on average, transfers are pivotal in the election of about one in 10 elected candidates. Hence, their impact is the exception rather than the norm. We show that when lower preferences are decisive at the candidate level, they benefit smaller and moderate parties and non-incumbents and, in Malta and Ireland, female candidates. Our results have implications for understanding the extent to which multiple preferences influence election outcomes and for debates on electoral reform.

scholarly journals Alberta’s forgotten experiment with electoral reform: the hybrid single transferable vote/alternative vote and the quasi-party system

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-32
Author(s):  
Darren C Choi
Keyword(s):  
Hybrid System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Single Transferable Vote ◽  
Social Credit ◽  
Alternative Vote ◽  
Potential Case

A persistent yet understudied aspect of Alberta’s “quasi-party system” is the role of the electoral system. While many authors have rightly pointed out that a majoritarian single-member plurality system has helped Alberta’s ruling parties produce disproportionate majorities, the province has not always operated under this electoral arrangement. From 1926 until 1955, Alberta had a “hybrid” system, consisting of the Single Transferable Vote in multi-member constituencies in Edmonton and Calgary and the Alternative Vote in single-member constituencies in the rest of Alberta. This unusual attempt at electoral reform played an important role in the dominance of the United Farmers of Alberta and the early Social Credit Party (until 1955). AV acted as an essentially majoritarian system in rural Alberta, producing statistically indistinguishable results from FPTP. This contrasts the Albertan case with other attempts at implementing the Alternative Vote. On the other hand, STV benefited the UFA and Social Credit in two distinct ways. STV increasing proportionality in Edmonton and Calgary, as it has in many other jurisdictions. However, due the hybrid system, the urban opposition in Edmonton and Calgary to the UFA was fragmented by a proportional system like STV. Social Credit, with its larger urban base, used STV to maximize its urban vote through a process of voter transfers. Finally, rural malapportionment is a key feature in both the hybrid system and the subsequent return to single-member plurality. Rural seats, operating under both AV and FPTP, have been the electoral bedrock for Alberta’s long lived political dynasties. The unique case of Alberta’s hybrid electoral system serves as an important potential case study in debates surrounding electoral reform in Canada and around the world.   Please be aware that a revision to this article was submitted on April 30, 2021. Therefore, there may be some differences between the online version of this submission and the print version.

A simply transformative view of the single-transferable vote: Looking through a gendered lens at electoral reform in British Columbia

1969 ◽  
pp. 15-29
Author(s):  
Annabel Kristin Rixen
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Feminist Studies ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Gender Parity ◽  
Single Transferable Vote ◽  
Legislative Assembly

In 2009, British Columbians voted for the second time on the adoption of a new electoral system, the single-transferable vote (STV), as proposed by the Province's own Citizens' Assembly on electoral reform. The failure of the BC-STV to pass in this referendum generated much discussion on electoral reform, yet little research attention has been devoted to the role of gender in this process. This paper highlights the connections that can be drawn between the BC-STV and feminist studies, analyzing how electoral reform may influence gender parity in the Province's legislative assembly and how gender, in turn, influenced BC's electoral reform deliberations. The first section argues that electoral reform would have significantly improved gender parity in BC's legislative assembly. This conclusion is based upon an analysis of BC’s political culture in connection with three theoretical advantages of the STV system: its use of multi-member districts, its compatibility with affirmative action initiatives, and its susceptibility to the so-called “contagion effect.” The second section of this paper explores how gender dynamics influenced the ability of various “gendered actors” to influence the BC Citizens’ Assembly (BCCA). Female participants, feminist activists, and male staff members each enjoyed differing levels of influence that can be traced back to pre-existing gender inequalities. This work thereby demonstrates that an application of feminist theory can significantly enrich the study of electoral reform movements, both in British Columbia and elsewhere.

Parties and Party Systems

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Haegel
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
French Literature ◽  
English Language ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Empirical Knowledge ◽  
International Work ◽  
Sociocultural Approach ◽  
Alternative Approaches

International work on political parties and party systems is presented first in this chapter, and then the French scholarship which is largely ignored by international party scholars. The analysis argues the gap between the English-language and French literature is actually widening because of the French penchant for the sociocultural approach. It identifies the need for both French and international communities to better connect in order to avoid isolation and fossilization on both sides. While the micro and qualitative French work challenges some of the tenets of international models, like the catch-all model, and presents important empirical knowledge about French political parties at the local level, French scholars should take a broader perspective on political parties by embracing alternative approaches and examining new objects of study outside the purview of the sociocultural paradigm to address the persistent and widening gap between French and international work on party systems and parties.

From the ground up: The challenge of indigenous party consolidation in Latin America

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Rice
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Local Level ◽  
National Level ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Mixed Support ◽  
Election Results ◽  
Municipal Election ◽  
Base Of Support

To predict the electoral fate of the new cohort of indigenous-based political parties in Latin America, and the impacts on their respective party systems, we need to understand their prospects for consolidation. The central task of this article is to determine whether indigenous peoples’ parties are developing solid party roots in society or if they are merely benefiting from a protest vote against the system. The study of political party consolidation requires an examination of local level successes and failures. Based on a quantitative analysis of municipal election results in Ecuador (1996—2004) and Bolivia (1999—2004), the author finds mixed support for indigenous party consolidation. Clearly, the governing indigenous-based Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party in Bolivia has solidified its base of support. Ecuador’s indigenous-based Pachakutik (MUPP) party, however, has lost its support at the national level, though it continues to make impressive gains at the local level. As such, it represents a case of incomplete consolidation.

Personal or Partisan Incumbency Advantage? Evidence from an Electoral Reform at the Local Level in Italy

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Alberto De Benedetto
Keyword(s):  
Regression Discontinuity ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Regression Discontinuity Design ◽  
Incumbency Advantage ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Term Limit ◽  
Municipal Elections ◽  
Personal Effect

Abstract We analyze the incumbency advantage using a large data set on Italian municipal elections held from 1993 to 2011. We first apply a non-parametric Sharp Regression Discontinuity Design comparing parties that barely win an election to those that barely lose, exploiting the fact that partisan incumbency status changes discontinuously at the threshold of margin of victory of zero. In order to disentangle the personal incumbency advantage from the partisan effect, we rely on a reform that introduced mayoral term limit, and exploit the exogenous change on the incumbency status of mayors keeping the partisan incumbency status constant. We find that the incumbency advantage is essentially driven by the personal effect. The results are robust to different specifications and estimation strategies with excellent balance in observable characteristics. Also, the effect of interest is larger in magnitude for municipalities located in the South of Italy compared to northern municipalities.

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