Preview

Electoral Systems

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2155 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Electoral Systems
Electoral Systems
There is only one path to democracy and that is an election. It is the only way that a government can represent the will of the people. It gives legitimacy to government and ensures that the freedom one gives up in lieu of security and order is maintained. In a democratic state, the electoral process determines who will hold political office. The importance of a free, fair and representative election cannot be overstated in the 21st century nor can be the process of it undermined. Due to the rapid pace of globalization no one constituency, country or region is isolated from one another. Everything is interdependent on the macro level, be it an economy or an election. Human beings have come a long way in terms of civilization and the growth we have seen can be attributed to a number of factors. However if we narrow our vision one thing that is common to this period of growth and progress is civility and the realization that the only way to success is when one stops worrying about the security of life and starts contributing towards the engines of growth. Who provides that security and ensures prosperity has varied throughout history, and its success has been largely dependent on it as well. The governors of the world have ranged from religion to monarchies not to mention armies and cults but the only time the world has seen sustained progress has been when the people have been in charge. And the only way to put people in charge is via elections. Having determined that it is the people who govern best and not some king, who on his own whim determines the fate of his subjects (country), this paper will look at electoral systems that are prevalent in the world and to what degree are they representative of the people they govern.
According to Vernon Bogdanor, voting systems can be categorized under three headings: plurality systems; majority systems; and proportional systems. Under the majority system, the party or candidate winning more than 50



Cited: Gallagher, Michael, and Paul Mitchell. The Politics of Electoral Systems. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. Print. Barnett, Hilaire. Constitutional & Administrative Law. London: Routledge-Cavendish, 2009. Print. Wilson, Margaret. "Electoral Reform in the United Kingdom: Lessons from New Zealand." The Round Table 100.416 (2011): 509-17. Web. Douglas, Amy J. "Plurality-Majority Systems." Plurality-Majority Systems. Mtholyoke.edu, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. "Party List Systems." Party List Systems. Ed. John B. Anderson. Archive.fairvote.org, n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013. "The American Presidency." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. "Electoral Systems." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ed. William A. Darity, Jr. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 560-562. Yon, Richard M. "Electoral Systems." The Encyclopedia of Political Science. Ed. George Thomas Kurian. Vol. 2. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2011. 488-489.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Bibliography: Tijerina, Andres and Montgomery, William E. Vol. 2 of Building A Democratic Nation: A…

    • 962 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Module 13 Vocabulary

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages

    19. Proportional representation- The most popular electoral system alternative to a “winner take all” kind of election, this is when there has to be a strong relation between the amount of votes a party has and the amount of parliamentary seats a party wins in order for them to take office.…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Assignment 2 2014 2015

    • 480 Words
    • 3 Pages

    M2 – Compare the electoral processes used at different levels of government in the UK.…

    • 480 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ever since its creation at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the Electoral College has been the most widely debated aspect in the Constitution. There have been over 700 proposed constitutional amendments aimed at fixing or abolishing this process. And Congress has on several occasions held highly publicized hearings on Electoral College reform but overall has remained fairly inactive (Best, p. vii). And while the Electoral College is a cornerstone of our Constitution and therefore a major aspect of American democracy and government, its very nature is quite unfair and undemocratic. Many of its aspects portray biases and favor certain groups of people and certain states. It is deemed archaic, undemocratic, complex, ambiguous, indirect, and dangerous by many scholars and is in direct need of reforming (Kura, p. 30). It especially contradicts Walter Stone’s instrumental voting model for the Electoral College at first makes one believe as if one’s vote counts but eventually one figures out that it is in fact quite unimportant (Stone, p. 51). For with the Electoral College, the people are not in charge but rather the system is – the Electoral College presidential election system that is.…

    • 4911 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hout, Eliora van der, and Anthony J. McGann. 2009. Proportional Representation within the Limits of Liberalism Alone. British Journal of Political Science 39:735-54.…

    • 2654 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    4. Evaluate this proposal from two perspectives: (a) the relevance of the Electoral College’s underlying rationale to contemporary American politics, and (b) the impact of the Electoral College on presidential leadership capacity.…

    • 1824 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rbakker

    • 1234 Words
    • 7 Pages

    system. To learn more about the nature of American political institutions, we will examine features of the…

    • 1234 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Constitution Timeline

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages

    References: Patterson, T. E. (2009). The American democracy (9th Ed.) PP.30-52. Retrieved on December 10, 2010.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In America the center beating heart of politics is elections. Without elections the whole political process would be totally different and far from democratic. Elections is where political government officials careers start and end. The fact that they are so important, means they are the most deeply focused on and criticized on their organization. This paper will focus on the debate of partisan or nonpartisan elections, and prominent voter factors.…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    References: Abbott, David W. and James P. Levine, 1991. Wrong Winner: the Coming Debacle in the Electoral College. Connecticut: Preagar Publisher.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    It is important to consider the development of a new system of national elections and the issues that would result. Implementing the direct election would lead to “a host of defects that would make electoral misfires more likely and trigger a series of political and constitutional crises” (Williams, 2011, p. 173). This would be a source of instability moving forward as these changes would require changes to the current system and would need to have the agreements among several states in a subconstitutional or binding form or an amendment to the Constitution ratified by two thirds of the states. The new proposed system “risks creating a presidential election system that is neither workable nor fair” (Williams, 2011, p. 173). While it is argued that the direct election would promote fairness and representation, it would likely be the case that these factors would be reduced in this scenario. It is therefore essential to develop a coherent framework for implementing such a strategy. (Implementing direct…

    • 1746 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Texas Politics

    • 2706 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Cited: Clubb, Jerome M., Williams H. Flanigin and Nancy H. Zingale. Analyzing Electoral History: A…

    • 2706 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some proponent’s claim that could have a significant impact on influencing the voting interests groups and minorities, because they have all the systems in the state of winners (Advantages and Disadvantages of Electoral College, 2014).…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    New Electoral System

    • 198 Words
    • 1 Page

    The Electoral College election system has been a part of the United States for over 200 years, and continues to be the primary voting method in electing the most powerful office of the nation. At this point in time, process such as electoral college is unsuitable, and irreconcilable for any democratic country, including the United States, as it disregards the preference of a large number of citizens. In the article, “The Rules of the Game: A New Electoral System”, economists Amartya Sen and Eric Maskin proposes number of alternatives, such as National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, and The Condorcet Method. For an improved democratic practice, both options can be applied to the election process of the United States. While using the NPVIC…

    • 198 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bibliography: Daahl, R. A. (2000). On Democrcy. New Heaven: Yale University . Heywood, A. (2007). Political Ideologies. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Heywood, A. (2007). Politics. London: Palgrave Macmillian. Zorach, A. (2010, September 12). . Retrieved 12 11, 2010, from Cazor: cazor…

    • 1304 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays