4. One candidate is elected from
each legislative district.
Political parties may play a
role in this decision.
5. FIRST-PAST-THE-POST (FPTP)
Candidate w/ most votes wins
Do NOT have to win majority
of vote, just plurality
Consequences: Districts
represented by other party!
RUNOFF
Top two candidates after
first round of voting
compete in additional
elections until majority
6. More than one candidate chosen from area
What would happen if U.S. adopted this?
9. OPEN-LIST PR
Voters choose candidates
from party list
Candidates elected
according to popular vote
CLOSED-LIST PR
Voters vote for party list
Candidates elected in
order they appear on list
until all seats are filled
10.
11. ALTERNATIVEVOTE (AV)
Votes tallied
If NO candidate gets
majority, the last-place
candidate is eliminated
Votes are reallocated to
voters’ more preferred
candidates
Continues until one
candidate has majority
SINGLETRANSFERABLEVOTE
(STV)
Votes tallied
Votes of winning
candidates reallocated to
voters’ second and third
choices until slate elected
12.
13. SINCEREVOTING
Voting for candidate who
expresses preferences
STRATEGICVOTING
Voting for candidate with
best chance of winning
14.
15. 1912 Election: Bull Moose Party
Teddy Roosevelt broke from Republicans
Split GOP vote; DemocratWilson wins
1948 Election: Dixiecrat Party
StromThurmond broke from Dems over civil rights
and anti-segregation views
1992 Election: Reform Party
Ross Perot,TX billionaire, ran on budget platform
Participated in major debate b/c of support
16.
17.
18.
19.
20. MAURICE DUVERGER DUVERGER’S LAW
Two parties emerge in countries
with simple plurality vote
Example: Election with 100 voters
Candidate A received 49% of vote
Candidate B receives 26% of vote
Candidate C receives 25% of vote
Candidates B and C will work
together over time to defeat A,
producing two parties
When might median voting not be viable?
#1: When the distribution of voters looks like a bimodal distribution
- Many voters on each side of the political spectrum but not many in the center.
- Liberals and Conservatives would gravitate to middle, the other major party and a
more ideologically-extreme party in their own part of the spectrum would cut them
off on either side.
- Liberals and conservatives would more likely fight for the median voters on their ;
respective sides—leading to polarization rather than moderation.
#2 When voters cannot be arranged on a left-to-right spectrum
- Idea of cross-cutting cleavages
- People have different issue positions within society
- Issues like Religion, Economy, Race, etc.
- Leads to confusion on what the “left” and the “right” really means?
#3: “Safe Seats” in American case
- Areas are simply more liberal or more conservative in nature
- Politicians less likely to move toward middle due to representation
