INTRODUCTION
1. This paper explores how either a fraction or the whole of the membership might be directlyelected to a reformed second chamber - a Senate or a new House of Lords. On the face of itthere are a large number of possible voting systems which might be employed. But on closerexamination it becomes apparent that there are some important constraints on which systemsare viable for this specific purpose. In most cases deciding about electoral systems rarelyproduces one set of arrangements which clearly dominates all others on all or most criteria.Instead, decisions usually involve choosing in dilemma situations - where certain benefitsand costs attach to adopting option A, and different benefits and costs attach to option B.Research can be helpful in specifying as accurately as possible these factors, and thusallowing them to be better weighted or compared. A final stage which the Commission mightlike to consider would involve testing aspects of a probable recommended electoral system(such as the detailed design of ballot papers) by conducting some new survey research. Withappropriate design work it is feasible for a wholly elected or partly elected second chamberto meet some quite complex requirements, depending on how the Commission decides to setsome key parameters - notably the overall size of the chamber, the proportion of members tobe elected, the fraction of members to be elected at any one time, and the term that memberswould serve.2. The paper has three main sections, discussing:-
the principles which the Commission might wish to apply to designing avoting system for the Senate/Lords;-
how these principles could be implemented in a regional list voting systemwith either 100 or 142 members elected at a time;-
how these principles could be implemented in a regionally-based form of additional member system (AMS).Some very brief overall conclusions are sketched. The Annexes provide longer and moredetailed tables of results used to generate the tables included in the main text.
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