7. The Electoral System

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Loveland
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Recent Survey ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Large Group ◽  
System P ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Democratic Systems

A recent survey of electoral laws in modern societies identified six fundamental characteristics of democratic systems: (i) that virtually all adults may vote; (ii) that elections are held regularly; (iii) that no large group of citizens is prohibited from fielding candidates; (iv) that all legislative seats are contested; (v) that election campaigns are conducted fairly; and (vi) that votes are secretly cast and accurately counted. This chapter examines how well Britain’s electoral system satisfies these tests, first tracing the evolution of the democratic electoral system, followed by a review of the contemporary electoral process.

7. The Electoral System

2021 ◽  
pp. 168-196
Author(s):  
Ian Loveland
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Recent Survey ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Constitutional Order ◽  
Large Group ◽  
System P ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Significant Mechanism ◽  
Governmental System

A country’s electoral systems are perhaps the most significant mechanism within its constitutional order to ensure that the country’s laws and governmental system attract what Jefferson termed ‘the consent of the governed’. A recent survey of electoral laws in modern democratic societies identified six fundamental characteristics of democratic electoral systems: (i) that virtually all adults may vote; (ii) that elections are held regularly; (iii) that no large group of citizens is prohibited from fielding candidates; (iv) that all legislative seats are contested; (v) that election campaigns are conducted fairly; and (vi) that votes are secretly cast and accurately counted. This chapter examines how well Britain’s electoral system satisfies these tests, first tracing the evolution of the democratic electoral system, followed by a review of the contemporary electoral process.

The Electoral System

2020 ◽  
pp. 202-218
Author(s):  
Elias Dinas
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Political ◽  
System P ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Electoral Law

As new democracies consolidate, so do their accompanying party systems. A key factor contributing to this process is the establishment of rigid electoral laws that set the rules of the game. With seven reforms since its inauguration in 1974, the Greek electoral system has been an exception to this rule. Although change has been sometimes incremental and other times short lived, it has kept the electoral system in the political agenda. In this article I review the trajectory of the electoral law in Greece and look at the way the discussion over electoral reform developed along the process of party-system maturation. In so doing, I try to shed light on what seems to be an interesting paradox: the electoral system in Greece appeared most robust exactly in the same period in which the party system was most volatile, amidst the debt crisis. The political turmoil which the crisis generated seems to have shaped Greek politics and party competition in many aspects apart from the otherwise fluid electoral system.

The Never-ending Story of Law and Electoral System in Lesotho

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoolo Nyane
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Run Up ◽  
Mixed Electoral System ◽  
2012 Election

While electoral discontent has been the enduring feature of constitutional democracy in Lesotho since independence, disagreement over electoral system is a fairly recent phenomenon. When the country attained independence in 1966 from Britain, electoral system was not necessarily one of the topical issues of pre-independence constitutional negotiations. The major issues were the powers of the monarch, the office of prime minister, the command of the army and many more.  It was taken for granted that the country would use the British-based plurality electoral system.  This is the system which the country used until early 2000s when the electoral laws were reformed to anchor a new mixed electoral system.  When the new electoral laws were ultimately passed in 2001, the country transitioned from a plurality electoral system to a two-ballot mixed member proportional system. By this time, electoral system had acquired prominence in politico-legal discourse in Lesotho.  In the run-up to 2007 elections, bigger political parties orchestrated the manipulation of electoral laws which culminated in clearly distorted electoral outcomes. The manipulations motivated further reforms in the run-up to 2012 election which resulted in the single-ballot mixed member proportional system. The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate how electoral laws have anchored electoral system reforms throughout the various historical epochs in Lesotho since independence. The paper contends that while the country has been courageous, unlike most of its peers, to introduce far-reaching electoral system changes, the reform of electoral laws has not been so helpful in attaining the higher objectives of political inclusivity, constitutionalism and stability in Lesotho.

Minimalinvasiv oder wirksam? Debattenbeitrag zur Novellierung des Bundeswahlrechts vom Oktober 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-684
Author(s):  
Johannes Krause
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Vote System ◽  
The Political ◽  
Local Elections ◽  
Standard Size ◽  
National Parliament ◽  
System P ◽  
Voting System ◽  
The Way

Despite the 2020 reform of Germany’s national parliament voting law, the debate about a robust voting system has not ended . Träger and Jacobs have convincingly shown that Naun­dorf’s suggestion to introduce a parallel voting system creates more problems than it solves, and thus more far-reaching approaches have to be considered . One way to stop the Bunde­stag from growing is to reject the two vote-system . Comparable to the system of Thuringia’s local elections, with open lists and three votes per voter, both the standard size of the Bun­destag can be safely adhered to and at the same time a personalized proportional represen­tation can be maintained . Among other advantages, the voters would have greater influence on the personalized composition of the Bundestag . In particular, reservations on the part of the political parties could stand in the way of such a sustainable solution to the ongoing problems with the German electoral system .

Electoral system as a motivation to reforming political system- The Iraqi model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamall Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Reform ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Masses

The flaws and major flaws in the political systems represent one of the main motives that push the political elite towards making fundamental reforms, especially if those reforms have become necessary matters so that: Postponing them or achieving them affects the survival of the system and the political entity. Thus, repair is an internal cumulative process. It is cumulative based on the accumulated experience of the historical experience of the same political elite that decided to carry out reforms, and it is also an internal process because the decision to reform comes from the political elite that run the political process. There is no doubt that one means of political reform is to push the masses towards participation in political life. Changing the electoral system, through electoral laws issued by the legislative establishment, may be the beginning of political reform (or vice versa), taking into account the uncertainty of the political process, especially in societies that suffer from the decline of democratic values, represented by the processes of election from one cycle to another. Based on the foregoing, this paper seeks to analyze the relationship between the Electoral and political system, in particular, tracking and studying the Iraqi experience from the first parliamentary session until the issuance of the Election Law No. (9) for the year (2020).

scholarly journals ORGANIZATIONAL AND FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OF REGIONAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS IN RUSSIA

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-185
Author(s):  
E.V. x E.V. Efanova
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Structural Element ◽  
Typical Structure ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Election Process ◽  
Functional Features ◽  
The One

The article presents a structural and functional analysis of election campaigns in Russia. It is obvious that electoral campaigns of candidates are unfolding during the election period, which, through interaction with citizens, enlist their support and sympathy, which contributes to their achievement of the main goal - victory in the elections and, therefore, the seizure and retention of power. The election campaign, being a structural element of the electoral process, is a set of events carried out by various subjects of this process in order to win the election by attracting the votes of the electorate. In general, the electoral company, on the one hand, is a set of measures for organizing elections, regulated by law and carried out by election commissions, and, on the other, a set of actions of political actors involved in the electoral process. It was established that election campaigns have a typical structure, organizational features, political, administrative and socio-cultural characteristics at the federal and regional levels of the electoral process. Among the regional organizational and functional features of domestic election campaigns are: a high degree of intensity of the election process, the dependence of the success of regional election campaigns on the electoral activity of citizens, the orientation of candidates to the needs of the residents of the region, and a prompt response to criticism from the electoral community. The study of the features of the implementation of regional election campaigns is important for Russian reality, especially in the conditions of the ongoing formation and intensive development of the democratic political process in the Russian Federation at the present stage.

scholarly journals The Essential Features of Electoral Process of Armenia in the Context of Current Changes in the Electoral Code

wisdom ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 174
Author(s):  
Anahit GHARIBYAN
Keyword(s):  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Presidential System ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Further Development

A constitutional referendum was held in Armenia on 6 December 2015. The amendments to the constitution changed the country from having a semi-presidential system to a parliamentary republic, with the changes planned to take place during the 2017–18 electoral cycle. The results of the referendum determine not only the current changes in the electoral code, but also the necessity and effectiveness of the new electoral system. Particularly, by replacing the majoritarian system to the proportional system and by increasing the representativeness of the parliament for some groups, we can create basis for the further development of the country. Above all in the article we discussed the main factors that have a big impact on the voting behavior of the citizens.

scholarly journals MAJORITY/PLURALITY SYSTEMS: THE CHOICE OF LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES?

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (Suppl.1) ◽  
pp. 107-114
Author(s):  
D. Pastarmadzhieva
Keyword(s):  
Hypothesis Test ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Least Developed Countries ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Chi Square Test

The electoral system of a country is related to the political, economic and social areas of life. Their functioning directly or indirectly depends on it and the different types and subtypes of electoral systems produce different effects. The purpose of the current study is to identify if there is a relation between the statute of the least developed countries and their electoral system. The object of the study are countries, defined as least developed in 2018 by the United Nations. The focus is the type of electoral system for the legislative body (or its lower chamber in case of bicameralism) of these countries, their regime type, overall score and the score for electoral process and pluralism according to EIU Democracy Index 2018. For the purposes of the analysis statistical methods (frequencies, hypothesis test and chi-square test) and comparative approach are used. The results show that there is statistically significant relationship between the statute of least developed countries and their electoral system on one hand and their regime type on other. There is also a statistically significant difference in the scores of least developed countries compared to all others regarding the evaluation of democracy and the electoral process and pluralism.

The Final Stage of the Minority Revolution in the United States. Upward Mobility of Minorities to the Corridors of Power

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-1) ◽  
pp. 62-91
Author(s):  
Irina Zhezhko-Braun ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The United States ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Government

This article is the third and final in a series dealing with the birth of a new political elite in the United States, the minority elite. In previous articles, the mechanism of its appearance was analyzed, as well as its ideology, goals, program and values. The black movement, as the most co-organized of all protest movements, is entering the final phase of its development, being engaged in the placement of its representatives in state and federal governments, political parties and other social institutions. The women’s movement has recently been taken over by ethnic movements, primarily blacks, and has become their vanguard. This article describes new social elevators for the promotion of minority representatives into the corridors of power. The logic of promoting people of their own race, gender and nationality to the highest branches of power began to prevail over other criteria for recruiting personnel. During the 2020 election campaign, a new mechanism for promoting minorities in all branches of government was formed. It is based on numerous violations of local and federal electoral legislation. The mechanism of pressure on the US electoral system is analyzed using the example of the state of Georgia and the activities of politician Stacey Abrams. The article describes Abrams’ strategy to create a network of NGOs that are focused on one mission - to arrange for the political shift of the state in the elections. These organizations circumvented existing laws, making the state of Georgia the record holder for electoral irregularities and lawsuits. The article shows that Abrams’ struggle with the electoral laws of her state is based on the political myth of the voter suppression of minorities. The author identifies a number of common characteristics of the new elite. The minority elite does not show any interest in social reconciliation and overcoming racial conflict, but rather makes efforts to incite the latter, to attract the government to its side and increase its role in establishing “social justice” through racial quotas and infringement of the rights of those social strata that it has appointed bearers of systematic racism in society. As the colored elite increases and the government’s role in resolving racial conflicts grows, the minority movement is gradually condemned, it ceases to be a true grassroots movement and turns into astroturfing.

De kracht van de definitie : een vergelijking van quotawetten in Argentinië, België en Frankrijk

Res Publica ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-100
Author(s):  
Petra Meier
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Sex Ratios ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Process ◽  
Gender Balance ◽  
System A ◽  
Input Side ◽  
Gender Quota ◽  
French Gender

Gender quota do not always go hand in hand with a considerable rise in the number of women elected. Although the number of fe/male representatives elected depends on several factors, we argue that the stipulations of gender quota acts influence to a large extent their impact on the sex ratios in politics. This is not so much due to the share of fe/male candidates parties have to present than to the extent to which a gender quota act anticipates the particularities of the electoral system. A comparative analysis of three prominent cases, the Argentinean, Belgian and French gender quota acts, shows that the more a gender quota rule targets at the specificities of the electoral system in order to promote a gender balance in political representation, the more this rule 'guarantees' a result, even though gender quota acts concern but the input side of the electoral process.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document