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Electoral system - notes

Political science (University of Delhi)

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Q) Electoral systems are the outcome of practices and beliefs in a

society. In the light of the statement, discuss merits and demerits of
different electoral systems.

Or

Q) Define electoral system or Representation? Discuss the merits

and demerits of Proportional Representation System.

Or

Q) Analyse various electoral systems in contemporary times with

special reference to proportional representation system?

Ans) Introduction
Politics is about contestation for power. In the modern day democracy,
this contestation for power results in institutional arrangements for free and
fair contestation through elections. Elections are the key components in
ensuring democracy as they enhance citizens’ participation and also
government accountability. Electoral system is one such arrangement to
smoothen the functioning of democracy. Electoral system is means or
arrangements through which elections are formally structured. There are
various types of electoral systems across the countries. Due to the diversity in
its typology, electoral system is a significant area of study in the field of
comparative politics. Among many prevalent electoral systems, there are three
popular types of electoral systems: First Past the Post (FPTP), the Proportional
System (PR) and the Mixed System.

Electoral System
Technically defined, electoral systems are the mechanism by which the
preferences of people are translated into seats of the representative
institutions of democratic set up of any country. Most narrow definition of
electoral system denotes the set of rules that structure how votes are cast and
get converted into seats for any representative assembly in a democratic
setup. At the most fundamental level, electoral systems are designed to

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translate the votes into seats to be won by parties and candidates. In this
process the key variable used are as following- electoral formula (plurality,
proportional or mixed systems). This division of electoral system makes the
typology of electoral system more clear. There are various debates and
controversies regarding electoral systems. The choice made for an electoral
system is one of the most crucial institutional decisions to be made by any
country in democratic framework. This choice not only influences the process
and nature of representation but also has decisive impact on the political
future of the country. It is interesting to note that most of the countries
whatever the electoral system has been once chosen often remain constant.
Pippa Norris (1997) proposes that electoral formulas determine the manner in
which votes are counted and on this basis she underlines following four groups
within the electoral system: (a) Majoritarian formula (b) Semi Proportional
formula (c) Proportional Representation (d) Mixed formula

Representation
There are various types of electoral systems and ‘representation’ remains the
key word. The main function of an electoral system in any democracy is to
ensure fair representation. Though the term ‘representation’ is used in
different contexts but here we need to focus upon its political connotation. As
defined in Encyclopaedia Britannica, representation is “the process through
which the attitudes, preferences, viewpoints and desires of the entire citizenry
or a part of them are, with their expressed approval, shaped into governmental
action on their behalf by a smaller number among them, with binding effect on
those represented”. However, there is a lack of unanimity over the meaning of
‘representation’ as many scholars find this term ambiguous and thus
representative government ‘may have different meanings’. The issue of
representation has generated deep political controversies in past. For example,
English civil war of the 17th century fought between the King and the
Parliament, broke out as a result of denying representation to key interest
groups. Thus, there are different types of views on nature of representation.
One may broadly classify them into two groups – liberal-democratic and
collectivist-socialist. There are three types of representation namely (i)
Territorial Representation, (ii) Proportional Representation, (iii) Minority
Representation.

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First past the Post System

First Past the Post System is a majoritarian system of representation. This
system is also called as single member plurality system (SMP) or Plurality
System. It is one of the most popular systems of representation in liberal
democracies. In countries like the UK, the USA, Canada, New Zealand, South
Africa and India, this system is in practice. Relative majority decides the
election of a candidate. The elected member has the highest number of votes.
This system first came in use in the seventeenth and eighteenth century in
England for the election of representatives in the House of Commons (HoC).
Later on, this system was followed by those countries which followed the
English system. This system is also famous for not being a complex electoral
system.

As we see in this system, the country is divided into various single member
constituencies. These constituencies are usually of equal size. For each
constituency, candidates from different parties fight the elections. During the
elections, voters select a single candidate for each constituency. The candidate
with maximum number of votes is declared as the elected representative. As a
process, these steps are followed by those countries which adopt First Past the
Post system as their electoral system. However, variations in its practice could
be noticed among countries as they have difference in party-system, size of the
country, etc.

There are various advantages of this system. This system is appreciated for
striking a direct link between the representatives and the constituencies. It
also allows the governments to be formed on a clear mandate. As a system, it
leads to a strong, effective and stable government as usually single party gets
majority in the assembly.

There are also many disadvantages of this system. First Past the Post system is
accused the most for under-representing the small parties. It suits more to the
bi-party systems or countries with two major parties. It also creates varied
kinds of instability as change in government may lead to radical change in
policies. Sometimes it is also seen as a kind of lead to unaccountable
government as legislature in usually subordinate to the executive as majority is
of the governing party. First Past the Post system is also criticized for wasting

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votes as the votes for losing candidates have no value. This system leads to
selection of those candidates who are attractive to a larger population and
thus many a time candidates from disadvantageous background do not get
much importance in elections. In practice, the shortcomings of First Past the
Post system or plurality system have been noticed in countries like UK, Canada
and USA. Many times, single party is not able to achieve a clear majority. In
Canada, five general elections took place in merely eight years time and only in
one election, there was a clear majority to one party. In 1968, in Canada, the
liberals secured overall majority but they had less than half of the votes casted.
Similarly, even in US presidential elections, the winner has lesser percentage of
popular votes. It has happened many times in American history. Few instances
are- Abraham Lincoln in 1860, Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and Richard Nixon in
1968. Such illustrations highlight the limitations of First Past the Post system.
In India, First Past the Post system resulted in long rule of Congress Party in the
House of the People, popularly known as Lok Sabha. It has also been called by
many scholars as one-party dominance, Congress System, etc. But, in last two
decades, even Congress Party has declined its supreme position and has not
been able to get an absolute majority. This has led to hung Parliament and
coalition governments at the Centre. However, despite its limitations, First Past
the Post system still remains a major electoral system in practice in many
countries of Asia, Europe and America.

Proportional Representation
Proportional representation is another very popular form of electoral system.
This system tries to ensure the representation of all the significant currents of
public opinion. It is done with certain mathematical precision. Thus, the system
relies on weighing the vote rather than counting the vote. The necessity of this
system varies from country to country. In terms of its application also, one may
notice the variation. The characteristics of proportional representation are –
First, at least two candidates must be chosen from a single district. At many
places, three to five candidates are chosen. Second, this system of
representation focuses more upon party rather than personality. Each party
offers its three to five or more candidates. Thus, the main consideration
remains the label of the party instead of personality of the leader.

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In some of the proportional systems like Argentina, Venezuela, Israel and Spain
closed and blocked party list is used. In the erstwhile West Germany also, this
system was in use for half of the seats. In such kind of system the party
determines an unalterable order of candidates in advance of elections. For
instance, if the party wins five seats, the first five names on the party’s list are
elected. The voter selects a party but does not vote for a specific candidate
within that party. In most other proportional systems like in Belgium, Austria,
the Netherlands, Switzerland and Luxembourg voters can alter the order of
candidates through what is known as preference voting. Thus, we can notice
the variation in practice of proportional representation system.

There are two methods which have evolved for the application of proportional
representation system. They are – Single Transferable Vote System and List
System. In List System, the candidates are grouped in lists according to the
labels of their political parties. Then, each party submits a list of its chosen
candidates which is equivalent to candidates which is equal to the numbers of
seats to be filled up or even less than that. There are very few proportional
systems, for example Brazil, where the preference votes are completely
determine the intra-party order of candidates. In some other such cases, like in
Italy and Greece, the parties present an initial order to the list, but this order
has no formal authority in determining the allocation of seats to candidates.
Brazil, having an open list system, it is not an exception as Chile (1958-73) and
Finland are other countries with this system. This system is considered as a
simple system, here, a citizen casts a vote for one deputy only, and this vote
cannot be transferred to other individuals. Here, seats are distributed to
parties according to the total number of votes their candidates get and then
within parties according to the number of individual.

On the other hand, the Single Transferable Vote (STV), which is used in Ireland,
Malta, Tasmania and Australian senate elections, also places a premium on
preference voting, but it is not a system of list Proportional Representation as
we know it. Here, constituencies are multi membered. In such system, citizens
cast one vote only, but they can stipulate their order of preferences for the
entire list of candidates. If their first choice vote is “wasted”, either because
the candidate does not have enough votes to be in the running or because the
candidate’s election is already ensured. In this case the votes go to the second

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candidate. This continues till the final result is not declared. Thus, one may
argue that the Proportional Representation system tries to overcome the
shortcomings of First Past the Post.

Proportional Representation system has its merits and demerits. It is

appreciated for several reasons. Proportional Representation system is said to
be the best way to ensure the representation of all sections as much as
possible. It educates the masses politically and even the minority population
has a sense of political security and representation. In this system, political
parties take up the social and economic problems more seriously. However, it
is criticized for its complicated process of application. As a result, it is usually
practiced by small countries like Israel, Ireland, Australia, and Sweden. The
proponents of majoritarian system find fault with Proportional Representation
system. As Jean Blondel says, ‘The majority system has the great advantage of
being simple to administer. It is also easy to understand: the candidate who
wins the most votes is elected. In system of proportional representation, rules
are more complex, so much so that they may sometimes defeat their own
purpose. Proportional system is not a panacea. It works well in many countries,
but the majority system has achieved generally acceptable results in others’.
This statement of Blondel gives us more clarity of Proportional Representation
system.

Mixed Systems
Mixed Systems or mixed electoral systems are such which are suppose to
combine the Proportional Representation (PR) with the Single Member
Districts (SMD). In the last three decades this system has gained considerable
currency. Many countries started experimenting with its different variants
suitable to their necessities. Some scholars have defined the mixed electoral
system as ‘electoral system that provide voters two votes for legislature- one
for a party list in a proportional representation (PR) tier and one for a
candidate in a single member district (SMD) tier. This system has emerged as a
major alternative to strictly Proportional Representation or Single member
district system, the two other major electoral systems.

There are primarily two kinds of mixed systems- the compensatory mixed
systems and non compensatory mixed systems. In compensatory mixed

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systems, the Proportional Representation proportion of the ballot is used to

balance the overall proportionality of the system. Parties which perform badly
in Single member district are protected through Proportional Representation.
In this the seats are further distributed in order to ensure that they receive a
number of seats in proportion to overall performance in the election. One may
notice that the complementary to the compensatory system is the non
compensatory system. In this system, Proportional Representation seats are
distributed independently of performance in Single member district. The non
compensatory system is currently used in more countries than the
compensatory system.

In the above context, Massicotte and Blais (1999) identify three subtypes
within the mixed non compensatory system. The ‘coexistence’ subtype
combines two or more electoral rules in a single election, but the rules are
separated geographically. The ‘fusion’ subtype combines seat allocation
mechanisms at the district level. The ‘superposition’ subtype combines seat
allocation mechanisms at the district level. This subtype has the greatest
number of cases, including countries like Armenia, Croatia, Guinea, Japan,
Russia and Ukraine. Mixed superposition system is a specific sub type of mixed
system. It is a relatively new variant of the German electoral system. Japan and
Russia also utilize this variant of the mixed system. Herron and Nishikawa
(2001) argue that the mixed superposition without adequate understanding of
its potential impact on the party systems. They are of view that this system
encourages the development of a multiparty system. They further say that in
this system, by 1990s, more than twenty countries and additional sub national
units have chosen to have a certain form of mixed system to elect regional or
national legislative representatives.

Conclusion
Electoral systems are considered as one of the most stable democratic
institutions. They are also crucial to change the nature of politics. They not
only determine the nature of representation but also how the people are
linked to political system. During the wave of constitution-building in the post-
second world war era, the issue of electoral systems remained an important
one. In the process of decolonization, many new countries of Asia, Africa and

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Latin America had to take a major decision with regard to choosing the
electoral system. As a result, many experiments seem to have been done by
these countries depending on their past experiences. Each type of electoral
system has its merits and demerits. Thus, we can say that no electoral system
is perfect in itself just as no country or any political system is considered
perfect.

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