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Electoral Systems. Pippa Norris ~ Harvard www.pippanorris.com. Components of institutional design. Structure. Normative principles of elections Types of electoral systems What are the choices? How do they work? Explaining processes of electoral system change
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Electoral Systems Pippa Norris ~ Harvard www.pippanorris.com
Components of institutional design www.pippanorris.com
Structure • Normative principles of elections • Types of electoral systems • What are the choices? How do they work? • Explaining processes of electoral system change • Do electoral systems determine party systems? Or the reverse? • Conclusions and implications www.pippanorris.com
Required readings • Pippa Norris. 2008. Driving Democracy: Do Power-Sharing Institutions Work? Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ch 5. • Benoit, Kenneth. 2007. ‘Electoral laws as political consequences: explaining the origins and change of electoral institutions.’ Annual Review of Political Science 10: 363-90. DOI: 10.1146/annurev.polisci.10.072805.101608 • International IDEA. 2008. Electoral System Design. The new IDEA International Handbook. Ed. Andrew Reynolds, Ben Reilly and Andrew Ellis. http://www.idea.int/publications/esd/upload/ESD_Handb_low.pdf pp1-29. www.pippanorris.com
Online Resources • IFES • www.ifes.org/eguide/elecguide.htm • ACE • http://www.aceproject.org/ • International IDEA • www.EPICproject.int www.pippanorris.com
Discussion Questions • What are the pros and cons of alternative electoral systems? • What would you recommend if asked to advise about designing the electoral system in either (a) Afghanistan (b) Iraq (c ) Ukraine (d) Nepal or (e) Bhutan? And why? www.pippanorris.com
I: Normative debates www.pippanorris.com
Normative criteria How would you rank the importance of these criteria for Afghanistan, Nepal, and Bhutan? • Providing representation • Geographic, ideological, party, and descriptive • Making elections accessible and meaningful • Providing incentives for conciliation • Facilitating stable and efficient government • Holding the government accountable • Holding individual representatives accountable • Encouraging political parties • Promoting legislative opposition and oversight • Making electoral processes sustainable • Meeting international standards Source: International IDEA. 2008. Electoral System Design pp9-14. www.pippanorris.com
Recap: Consociationaldemocracy • Lijphart (1968) The Politics of Accommodation • Netherlands exemplified ‘pillorized’ divided society • Yet there was stable democracy and elite consensus • Why? Constitutional arrangements • Proportional representation of all major groups in elected/appointed office • Executive power-sharing/grand coalition • Minority veto in government • Cultural autonomy for groups • Model for other divided (plural) societies? • E.g. Belgium, Switzerland, Lebanon, Cyprus
The logical sequence of consociationaltheory in divided societies PR electoral systems (or reserved seats) Election of ethnic minority parties Peaceful democratic consolidation Greater support within minority communities Federalism & decentralization Election of ethnic minority parties Does the logic make sense? Criticisms?
II: Types of electoral systems • The most basic features involve: 1.The electoral formula • how votes are counted to allocate seats, 2. The district magnitude • the number of seats per district, 3. Theballot structure • how voters can express their choices, and The electoral threshold • the minimum votes needed by a party to secure representation. www.pippanorris.com
Classification of systems Adversarial Consensual www.pippanorris.com Source: Norris: Driving democracy p113
1. Plurality • Single member plurality elections (First-Past-The-Post) • Used in 54 countries Eg US, UK, India, Canada • Single seat districts, equal size, ‘X’ vote • Simple plurality of votes determines winner • Create ‘manufactured majority’ in votes:seats ratio • Geographical dispersion of support is critical • High threshold for non-spatially concentrated minor parties and ethnic groups www.pippanorris.com
FPTP Ballot Eg UK % 30 20 15 35 Advantages and disadvantages? X Elected w. plurality www.pippanorris.com
June 2005 % of Votes % of seats Ratio Number of seats Labour 35.2 54.9 1.56 355 Conservative 32.3 30.4 0.94 197 Lib Dem 22.0 9.5 0.43 62 SNP 1.5 0.9 0.60 6 PC 0.6 0.5 0.83 3 Other 8.4 3.4 0.40 23 Labour Maj. 2.9 24.5 66 Total 100 100 659 2005 UK election result www.pippanorris.com Source: Pippa Norris & Chris Wlezien Ed. Britain Votes 2005 (OUP 2005)
Simulated seats GB June 2005 www.pippanorris.com Source: Dunleavy and Margetts in Pippa Norris (Ed) Britain Votes 2005 OUP
Majoritarian Variants • Single Non-Transferable Vote • Japan 1948-1993, Jordan, Vanuatu, Afghanistan • Small multimember districts • Multiple candidates from same party • Single vote cast & plurality vote required • Advantages and disadvantages? • Cumulative vote • Dual member seats eg Illinois until 1980 • Limited vote eg Spanish senate www.pippanorris.com
2. Second ballot majority • Eg Presidential elections France, Russia, DRC • Used in 14/25 presidential contests + some parliamentary elections • Majority required (50%+) 1st round – winner • Or ‘run off’ 2nd round w. top two candidates • Aims to produce party coalitions on left and right and popular legitimacy of the winner • ‘Heart’ and ‘head’ voting • Advantages and disadvantages? www.pippanorris.com
3. Alternative Vote (AV) • Eg Australian House of Representatives • [Preferential voting] • Single member districts • Priority ranked voting (1st, 2nd, 3rd,etc.) • Majority required (50%+) 1st round • Or 2nd round bottom votes 2nd preferences redistributed etc. and results recalculated until majority achieved www.pippanorris.com
Eg AV Australian HofRep Must rank preferences across all candidates to be a valid ballot Advantages and disadvantages? www.pippanorris.com
2010 Australian HofR results www.pippanorris.com
4. Single Transferable Vote • Used in Ireland, Australian Senate, Malta • Multimember constituencies (4/5 members) • Priority voting (1,2,3,..) • Quota for election eg • 100,000 voters/4 seats=25000+1 • Redistribution in successive counts from candidate with least votes www.pippanorris.com
2007 Irish Dial election results www.pippanorris.com
5. PR – Party Lists • National or regional district • Closed or open list • Used 62/191 nations eg Israel, Netherlands • One vote for party (X) • Minimum threshold of votes www.pippanorris.com
Eg Party List S.Africa Advantages and disadvantages? www.pippanorris.com
Summary of the 22 April 2009 South AfricanNational Assembly election results www.pippanorris.com
PR List formula • Votes proportional to seats allocated by different formula • Highest averages • Total votes per party divided by divisors, seats allocated to highest quotient up to total seats available • D’Hondt formula divisions 1,2,3 etc eg Poland, Spain (least prop.) • Pure Saint-Laguë divisor 1,3,5,7 etc eg New Zealand • Modified Saint-Laguë 1.4, 3,5,7 etc eg Norway (most proportional) • Largest remainder • Minimum quota (total votes/total seats) • Hare quota total votes/total seats eg Benin, Costa Rica • Droop quota raises divisor by 1 eg S.Africa, Czech Rep. www.pippanorris.com
Eg D’Hondt formulaHighest averages www.pippanorris.com
Eg Largest remainders Hare Quota=(130,010 total votes/12 seats=10,384) www.pippanorris.com
6. Combined systems • Aka ‘Mixed’, ‘hybrid’, ‘side-by-side’ • ‘Combined-independent’ • eg Taiwan and Ukraine • Ukraine half FPTP, half nation-wide lists, 4% thresholds • ‘Combined-dependent’ • eg Germany, New Zealand, • Germany half seats by party list, half by FPTP. • Seats allocated by FPTP • Total seats proportional to 2nd party vote www.pippanorris.com
Eg Combined system Germany X Advantages and disadvantages? x www.pippanorris.com
IV: Conclusions • Therefore no single ‘best’ system • Depends upon priorities –choice of governability v. diversity • Critical choices for many other democratic institutions • Rules are often amended • What are the consequences of electoral systems? www.pippanorris.com