Elections and

Electoral Systems
ADA School of Public and International Affairs
Ali Saqer
State and Politics – POLS 1200
Theories of Representation

• Trusteeship (before political parties)

• Delegation (before political parties)

• The mandate

• Resemblance
 Trusteeship (Elitist view)

Superior: knowledge, education and experience.

Enlightened consciousness vs unfortunate ones.
Political opinions have unequal values.
Corresponds to a Conservative View of
Democracy
“You choose a member indeed; but when you have chosen him he is
not member of Bristol, but he is a member of parliament . . . Your
representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement;
and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your
opinion”
Moreover,
“If government were a matter of will upon any side, yours, without
question, ought to be superior. But government and legislation are
matters of reason and judgment, and not of inclination; and what
sort of reason is that, in which the determination precedes the
discussion; in which one set of men deliberate, and another decide”
Edmund Burke, Speech to the Electors of Bristol, 1774.
 Mill’s Allocation of Votes
• 4-6 votes to the educated
• 2-3 votes to the skilled and managerial workers
• 1 vote to ordinary workers.
• Votes should go to those who are trustees (wise to act
on people’s behalf) not to those who mirror public
opinion (working class).
Thoughts on Parliamentary Reform, 1859
“None are so illiberal, none so bigoted in their hostility to
improvement, none so superstitiously attached to the
stupidest and worst of old forms and usages, as the
uneducated. None are so unscrupulous, none so eager to
clutch at whatever they have not and others have, as the
uneducated in possession of power”

Universal suffrage is desirable but:

“whatever be the most probable complexion of the evil to
be feared, no lover of improvement can desire that
the predominant power should be turned over to persons
in the mental and moral condition of the English working
classes”.
1861.
 But…
• The purpose of democracy is political equality: we are all worth the same
moral value.

• If not all people are equal: why have elections in the first place?
• Does education always mean being able to make a moral judgement?
• Will politicians always have a better sense of social responsibility?
• When left to act freely (independent of people’s interests), Politicians will act
in their own interests, no?
 In a Representative System:
“Every man is a proprietor in government, and considers it a
necessary part of his business to understand. It concerns his
interest, because it affects his property. He examines the cost, and
compares it with the advantages; and above all, he does not adopt
the slavish custom of following what in other governments are
called LEADERS…. The government of a free country, properly
speaking, is not in the persons, but in the laws.”.

1792
 Delegation System

• Representative has little (or no) voice.

• Strict Reflection of the interests of people.

• Disposable (removable) through referendums.

• I.e. ambassadors; trade union reps,

• Popular Sovereignty (classical democracy)

What about leadership? Aspiration?
Vision?
 The Mandate Model

• Authorisation is given to a political party to act based on

its campaign promises.

• Loyalty to the party and its line of politics.

 Criticism of the Mandate Model
• Voters behaviour is shaped by irrational factors:
• Charismatic leaders
• Party image
• Habitual allegiances
• Social conditioning
• Governments are constrained by their campaign commitments and are
unable to adapt to changing environments
• Works only in majoritarian systems.
 4. The Resemblance Model
• Microcosmic government.
• All societal groups are represented.
• Shared experience as a condition for shared interests.
• Implication: only a woman can represent women and only black
can represent blacks; only a worker can represent workers; etc.
Criticism of the Resemblance Model

• Social division

• Absence of common good.

• Not all people are well informed, or interested in politics.

• Voting to people from your own group is limiting.

Functions of Elections
I. Recruiting Politicians
II. Forming governments
 Directly (presidential)
 Indirectly (parliamentary)
III. Providing representation (of demands)
IV. Influencing policy
V. ‘Educating’ Voters: through campaigns?
VI. Building consent and legitimacy
VII.Strengthening the elite?
How Do Electoral Systems Differ?
1. Choosing between candidates
 Single candidate
 Ranking candidates
2. Choosing between parties
3. Electorates are grouped into constituencies
 Choose a single member
 Choose multiple members
 Based on plurality, absolute majority or quota system.
Two Main Electoral Systems

• Proportional Representation (PR)

• Majoritarian Representation (MR)

Proportional Representation (PR)

• Number of seats = number of votes

Multi-party system

Coalition governments
 PR.1: Party-List System
• Examples: Israel, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland.
• Principles:

1. Country as a single constituency

2. Or, regional party lists (multi-member constituencies)

3. Party lists (candidates ranked in declining importance)

4. Vote for parties not candidates; seats proportional to votes, seats are filled from the lists.
 A threshold in Germany to eliminate small parties (5%; wining 3 constituencies).
A good system?
 Mixed-member Proportional System
• Examples: Germany, New Zealand, Italy, the Scottish parliament.
• Principles:
1. 50% seats (single member constituency)
2. 50% seats with party list system
3. Two votes for each citizen: one for the party and one for the member of the
constituency

Advantages?
 PR.2: Single Transferable Vote system
• Examples: Ireland and Northern Ireland.
• Principles:
• Multi-member constituency (3-8); as many candidates are running for each
party as there seats
• Preferential vote: rank your candidates.
• Quota system; 100,000 votes for a constituency with 4 candidates: then the
quota is 100,000/ (4+1) + 1= 20,001
• If not all seats are filled last candidate is eliminated; second preferences
are used to allocate his/her votes
Advantages?
 Criticism of PR
Although more than 50% of people are represented, a coalition
government is less stable as it is essentially built on opposing views. (Italy
1945-2010: 63 governments)

Post-election deals don’t reflect public interests

Gives equal power to small and big parties.
 Majoritarian Systems
(single-party governments)
• Single Member Plurality

• Second Ballot System

• Alternative (supplementary) Vote Systems

 1. Single Member Plurality

 Single member constituencies

 Equal size
 One candidate selection; first past the post.

Examples: UK, US, Canada, India.

 2. Second Ballot System
• Single candidate constituency
• Single member voting
• Single member plurality
• First ballot: overall majority is needed.
• If not achieved then a second ballot
between the two top candidates.
• Examples: France, Austria, Chile, Russia.
•Any Good?
33.9% vs 66.1%
 Electoral System of Azerbaijan
Parliament Presidential
Round 1 Round 2
Ilham Aliyev, YAP
Zahid Oruj, SN
Araz Alizade, SDP
Gudrat Hasanguliyev
Az Popular Front.
Faraj Guliyev, National
Revival Movement
• First-past-the-post
system
Hafiz Hajiyev Musavat
Razi Nurullayev,
Frontists Initiative
?
• 125 districts (125 seats)
Alternative (supplementary) Vote Systems
Single member constituencies; equal size; one candidate selection; 50% is
needed. If no one gets majority then a second round:

• AV: Australia (house of reps); preferential vote (ranking). All run except
the lower candidate on the list, where the votes are distributed according
to the second preference.

• SV: UK (London Mayor): single vote. only two top candidates run again
and votes are distributed accordingly.
 Criticism of MR
I. Big parties secure more seats than what votes entitle them to.
II. Weak representation
• UK: 2010: Conservatives: 36% votes: 47% seats; N Labour: 29% votes: 40% seats; Lib
Dem: 23% votes: 9% seats…distorting popular preferences

• UK 2005: Labour won with 35.3% votes.

• 1945-2010: all governments were single party systems, despite not having electoral
majority.
 The U.S Electoral College System

Clinton: 65,316,724 Trump: 62,719,568

 The Workings of the System
Each state is entitled to as many electoral votes as the sum of its
representation
 California: 53 congressmen+2 senators= 55 Electoral votes
 Ohio: 18 congressmen+2 senators= 20 Electoral votes
Total:
• U.S. House of Representatives (435)
• U.S. House of Senate (100)
• + 3 district of Columbia
• So, Majority o 270 is needed to win (otherwise congress chooses, 1 vote for each
state)
Today, party leaders select electors who are typically long-time party
activists.
What Is The Best Electoral System?
It depends on your answer to the following
questions:
• What is more valuable: (50%+) an effective government or a
representative one?

• Should we car about whether the government can last for long or that
it represents more people?

• For example: single party governments end with a transfer of power

into a different party, considerable shift of politics!
 Why Voters Vote As They Do?
• An Economy Theory of Democracy, Anthony Downs, 1957:
• Voting is driven by self-interests
• Political parties are goods-sellers (policies)
• Voters act as consumers of goods and services
• Winners are those who represent the interests of the majority.
• But:
• it is not so much about the goods for sale as much as it is about the way they are advertised
(campaigns).
• Elections are not a result of the general interests of people, it is about the resources and
finances available to to competing parties.
 What Affects Voting Behaviour?
• Short-term Factors:
Economic situation (i.e. inflation, unemployment, etc.)
Political Crisis (i.e. refugee crisis)
Charismatic political leaders
Style of party campaigns
Media
 Theories of Voting Behavior
• Party-identification model: psychological alignment; political
socialization and partisanship, not media or other short-term factors.

• The sociological model: social groups: class, gender, ethnic, etc.

positions

• The rational-choice model: self-interest

• The dominant-ideology model: ideological manipulation and
presentation of policy issues, role of media!
Who Represents You?
 Types of Representation
• Formal Representation (i.e. president)

• Symbolic Representation (i.e. King/Queen)

• Descriptive Representation (black man/women)

• Substantive Representation (a delegate, i.e. MP)

Hanna Pitkin, The Concept of Representation, 1967.

Are There Alternative Forms of
Representation?
 Celebrities?
“I represent a lot of people [in
Africa] who have no voice at all
…. They haven’t asked me to
represent them. It’s cheeky but I
hope they’re glad I do”

Make Poverty History, 2004.

Occupy Wall Street?
Green Peace?
 Concluding Remarks
• Electoral systems can be seen as ways of managing the democratic process in the
state.

• Election is more than casting a vote, it is about the campaigns, the manipulation,
and the access to information.

• Political interests shape electoral systems.

• Electoral systems determine the nature of political systems.
• The impact of an electoral system depends on the political environment.