1 / 14

Electoral systems and party systems:

Join us for a Political Science seminar featuring Michele Del Zompo, Senior Coordinator of Control Operations with the EU Community Fisheries Control Agency. The discussion will focus on the relationship between electoral systems and party systems, examining how different electoral frameworks can influence the number of political parties. Key concepts, including Duverger's law and the effective number of parties, will be explored through comprehensive data analysis and historical examples. Key participants will contribute to a rich dialogue on these essential topics.

odetta
Télécharger la présentation

Electoral systems and party systems:

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Electoral systems and party systems: Some conclusions

  2. Political Science Seminar Series Enforcing NAFO Regulations: A European Union Perspective Michele Del Zompo Senior Coordinator of ControlOperations with the (EU) Community Fisheries Control Agency 3:00 pm Friday, November 16th AA1045

  3. Research papers: PRELIMINARY OUTLINE Due Friday, November 16th This should lay out the argument of the paper in point form PAPERS DUE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH

  4. Electoral systems and party systems: Do electoral systems • either determine the number of parties (stronger version) OR • influence the number of parties (more muted, weaker version) • If so, in what way?

  5. Duverger’s law In its simplest form: • Single member plurality (SMP) > two party system • PR > multiparty system But is it valid?

  6. Possible solutions: • Consider the argument: • Is it logically consistent? • Does it take into account the likely behaviour of parties and/or voters? • Consider historical sequences: • which came first? • Look at the data – look for correlations And….

  7. Other factors Consider whether there are other factors which explain the number of parties • Cleavage structure • District magnitude • Formal legal or effective thresholds

  8. Some evidence There is a relationship between electoral laws and the number of political parties: • Countries using plurality systems (SNP) have fewer parties • Countries using majority systems (double ballot/runoff) have more • Countries using PR have more still more

  9. Some data using Laakso and Taagepura’s index, the effective number of parties • Effective number of parties – a weighted measure, according greater importance to larger parties • ENEP = effective number of electoral parties (parties competing in elections) • ENPP = effective number of parliamentary parties (parties winning seats in the legislature)

  10. Electoral systems and the effective number of parliamentary parties

  11. Some qualifications • SNP can lead to multiparty competition: Canada as a case in point • PR will not necessarily lead to an extensive number of parties, e.g. • Austria • Spain • Greece And…

  12. Changing the electoral law doesn’t always work:

  13. Germany • 5% threshold does reduce the number of parties FRG goes from • 11 to 7 to 3 parties in parliament (1950s) • 4 parties in parliament from 1983-1990 • 5 since them

  14. Italy: how to get it wrong • Through 1992: PR in large districts > extended multipartyism • Change to single member plurality for ¾ of the districts and PR for the remaining ¼ > • More parties & clustered multipartyism: competition between two blocs ___________________________________Ulive (9 parties) Casa del Liberta (3 parties)

More Related