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.

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.

15. Institutional Design in New Democracies

2018 ◽  
pp. 228-238
Author(s):  
Matthijs Bogaards
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Ethnic Conflicts ◽  
Consociational Democracy ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Established Democracies ◽  
Electoral Law

This chapter focuses on electoral systems and institutional design in new democracies. It first compares Maurice Duverger’s electoral laws with those of Giovanni Sartori before discussing the main insights from the literature on electoral systems in established democracies as well as evidence from new democracies. It then considers the impact of the electoral law on the type of party system and its role as intermediary between society and government in plural societies. It also examines the party system as an independent variable, along with dependent variables such as the number of political parties, social cleavages, and presidentialism. Finally, it discusses consociational democracy and how electoral system design can be used in managing ethnic conflicts.

The Spanish Electoral System

2020 ◽  
pp. 388-409
Author(s):  
Agustí Bosch
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Regional Parties ◽  
Lower House ◽  
System P ◽  
The Future ◽  
The One

This chapter examines the Spanish electoral system, meaning—first and foremost—the one used to elect the lower house (Congreso de los Diputados). After a brief description of its components, the chapter assesses how its scarce proportionality has traditionally led Spanish politics towards a two-party system. The chapter also assesses some other of its alleged outcomes (such as the malapportionment, the weight of the regional parties, or the robustness of democracy) and its prospects for the future. Finally, the chapter also examines the ‘other’ Spanish electoral systems—that is, the ones used to elect the Senate, the local councils, the regional parliaments, and the Spanish seats in the European Parliament.

Electoral systems applied to the Iraqi parliament elections after 2003 (comparative analytical study)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurdistan Saeed ◽  
Chawan Salah
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Party System ◽  
Analytical Study ◽  
Separation Of Powers ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
The Right

This study deals with the electoral systems applied in Iraq after 2003 for the Iraqi Parliament elections. The issue's importance lies in the fact that elections are the legitimate means adopted by modern political systems based on the separation of powers. Therefore, after changing the political system in Iraq in 2003 from a one-party system to a democratic parliamentary system, the permanent constitution of 2005 granted the right to political participation for citizens. Including the right to participate in elections through nomination or candidacy for the Iraqi Council of Representatives, this study examines the electoral systems applied after 2003 and the reasons for the instability of the Iraqi parliament elections on a specific law. The study dealt with the types of electoral systems by focusing on the concept and emergence of elections and the most critical electoral systems adopted by political systems. Furthermore, the electoral systems applied after 2003 in the Iraqi parliament elections by focusing on the electoral laws or their amendments that preceded each electoral cycle since 2003 until now. The study concluded that the electoral system in Iraq was not legally stable; several amendments have been made to the laws regulating the elections for the House of Representatives. So the two elections did not repeat under one law because of political parties' criticism leveled at it. Moreover, the attempt by the large parliamentary blocs, through their control of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, to legislate laws that limit the victory of the blocs and small parties.

Independents and the electoral system

2017 ◽  
pp. 172-204
Author(s):  
Liam Weeks
Keyword(s):  
Causal Relationship ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Contributory Factor ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
System P ◽  
Quantitative Manner ◽  
Australian Experience ◽  
Electoral Data

This chapter focuses on electoral systems, rules and regulations, and how they impact on independents in Ireland and elsewhere. There is a particular emphasis on the electoral system, PR-STV, because it is frequently referred to as a contributory factor behind the significant presence of independents in Ireland. The electoral experience of independents under STV in Ireland is compared with their fate in Australia, the only other country where both independents and STV are present. After establishing the causal relationship between STV and independents’ electoral success in Ireland, the validity of these hypotheses is tested on the Australian experience, more specifically, its seven parliaments currently elected by STV. This is put to the test in a quantitative manner using constituency-level electoral data from Ireland and Australia.

Electoral Systems in Context

2017 ◽  
pp. 762-780 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian McAllister ◽  
Toni Makkai
Keyword(s):  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Secret Ballot ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
Lower House ◽  
System P ◽  
The World ◽  
2016 Election

Australia is often characterized as “a democratic laboratory,” where a wide variety of electoral systems have been designed and implemented. Australia gave the world “the Australian ballot” (or secret ballot), and it is one of the few countries to operate an enforced system of compulsory voting. This chapter examines the evolution of the electoral systems in the lower House of Representatives and in the upper house, the Senate. Particular attention is given to the design of the Senate electoral system, and to the changes that were implemented at the 2016 election to eliminate the proliferation of “micro parties.” The development of compulsory voting is also outlined, and its consequences for the party system evaluated. Finally, the chapter discusses the major challenges to reform of the electoral system.

scholarly journals Quanto influiscono i sistemi elettorali sulle campagne?

2019 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-74
Author(s):  
Francesca Montemagno ◽  
Rossana Sampugnaro
Keyword(s):  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Mixed System ◽  
Election Campaigns ◽  
Electoral Campaigns ◽  
Electoral Campaign ◽  
General Elections ◽  
History Of

The demand for specific expertise to manage strategically election campaigns is growing. However, their use depends on the history of political party, on their values and on their economic resources and to the context in which the election campaign takes place. In this sphere, the electoral system produces constraints and incentives for the development of the electoral campaigns.This study aims to examine the influence of electoral system on electoral campaign style and on its management. In particular, the focus is on professionalization and personalization of electoral campaigns within a comparative approach among the European states. The data are from a comparative study on candidates (CCS).The study focuses on the candidates who participated in the most recent general elections included in the database. In particular, we selected nine countries with different electoral systems: for Candidate-based electoral system, we choice Romania, United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta; for Party-based electoral system, we examined Norway, Portugal and Italy; we also included in our analysis Hungary and Germany, which have a Mixed system with single-member constituency and closed List, which can be placed between the two previous systems.The results of the study show that the electoral systems influence the election campaigns of candidates, producing different models of mobilization.

scholarly journals Experimental Research Design in the Study of Electoral Systems

2017 ◽  
pp. 424-444
Author(s):  
Joshua A. Tucker ◽  
Dominik Duell
Keyword(s):  
Causal Inference ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Experimental Research ◽  
Experimental Work ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
National Level ◽  
Experimental Tests ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
System P

Understanding the effects of electoral systems is of great importance to both scholars and practitioners, and experimental research can be a valuable tool in pursuit of this goal. However, scholars need to think carefully about how to utilize experimental research, especially because the variation in electoral systems in which we are most interested—at the national level—is often impossible or unethical to manipulate. To inform how experiments and related methods of causal inference are then still able to facilitate investigations into the roots and consequences of electoral systems, we situate experimental research within a broader account of research design in the study of electoral systems, summarize existing experimental work, and discuss future avenues. We call for carefully crafting experimental tests in the laboratory and for using “naturally” occurring variation in existing institutions at lower levels of the electoral system.

Disability-inclusive electoral systems: analyzing the Philippine electoral policy using the disability convention (DisCo) policy framework

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
John Paul P. Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Equal Opportunity ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Minority Community ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Laws And Policies

For more than a century now, the Philippines has been at the forefront of democracy in the Southeast Asian region. Since the early 1990s, the country has sought to institutionalize democratic processes, which aim to meaningfully engage Filipinos in the public and political spheres. In line with its efforts of strengthening its electoral systems, it has also taken a leading role in the region in promoting and protecting the rights of voters with disabilities by becoming one of the first States Parties to ratify the United Nations convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). A key provision of the UNCRPD is affording voters with disabilities the equal opportunity to engage in every electoral process on an equal basis with other abled-bodied voters. However, in spite of recent developments, the Philippines has yet to effectively implement disability-inclusive electoral policies and processes that would not only engage able-bodied Filipino voters but also one of the country’s largest minority community—Filipino voters with disabilities. This paper examines the effectiveness of the Philippine government in ensuring that Filipino voters with disabilities are guaranteed with and are able to exercise their right to suffrage. Using a mixed method approach and the disability convention (DisCo) policy framework, this research evaluates the content of existing legislative measures relating to the country’s electoral system, the corresponding executive and budgetary support to implement electoral laws and policies for Filipino voters with disabilities, the administrative and coordinating capacity of implementing electoral agencies, the prevailing attitude of the society towards Filipino voters with disabilities, and the degree of participation of Filipino voters with disabilities in the development of Philippine electoral laws and policies.

15. Electoral Systems and Institutional Design in New Democracies

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthijs Bogaards
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
Ethnic Conflicts ◽  
Consociational Democracy ◽  
Electoral Laws ◽  
Established Democracies ◽  
Electoral Law

This chapter focuses on electoral systems and institutional design in new democracies. It first compares Maurice Duverger’s electoral laws with those of Giovanni Sartori before discussing the main insights from the literature on electoral systems in established democracies as well as evidence from new democracies. It then considers the impact of the electoral law on the type of party system and its role as intermediary between society and government in plural societies. It also examines the party system as independent variable, along with dependent variables such as the number of political parties, social cleavages and presidentialism. Finally, it discusses consociational democracy and how electoral system design can be used in managing ethnic conflicts.

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