Majoritarian Electoral System Pros And Cons
Coalitions can be avoided by adopting a majoritarian or alternative voting system. In majoritarian electoral systems candidates are elected based on either a plurality or absolute majority. In a plurality system (first past the post), the candidate with the most votes will win the election. For an absolute majority, the winning candidate must achieve more than half of the votes to win. If no one achieves this threshold of at least 51%, there is a runoff election between the top two candidates of round one, eliminating the lowest ranked candidates from the race. This process of eliminating parties leads majoritarian electoral systems to revolve around two major parties. With only two dominant parties in the election it would be unlikely for
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However, politicians in majoritarian electoral systems and systems with intra-party competition are more likely to have incentives for personal vote. In these elections, politicians must use personal incentives to influence voters to vote for them over other candidates. These incentives can range from campaign buttons to food and political jobs in extreme cases of vote buying. The electoral systems aforementioned are more likely to encourage forms of corruption since candidates are directly elected based on the votes casted by voters. Corruption is less likely in a proportional representation or a combined system with closed list ballots. In PR systems, seats in the government will be allocated based on the percentages of the votes received. Compared to the "winner takes all" characteristic of the majoritarian and alternative voting, this system allows candidates that obtain a certain threshold to be represented in the government. In this system the personal vote is less favorable, and the parties are more focused on forming coalitions. The goal in PR systems is to achieve the necessary threshold by combing with appropriate parties that have similar policy preferences and will give you a certain percentage of votes when the coalition is formed. This system will minimize corruption but will not avoid
However, politicians in majoritarian electoral systems and systems with intra-party competition are more likely to have incentives for personal vote. In these elections, politicians must use personal incentives to influence voters to vote for them over other candidates. These incentives can range from campaign buttons to food and political jobs in extreme cases of vote buying. The electoral systems aforementioned are more likely to encourage forms of corruption since candidates are directly elected based on the votes casted by voters. Corruption is less likely in a proportional representation or a combined system with closed list ballots. In PR systems, seats in the government will be allocated based on the percentages of the votes received. Compared to the "winner takes all" characteristic of the majoritarian and alternative voting, this system allows candidates that obtain a certain threshold to be represented in the government. In this system the personal vote is less favorable, and the parties are more focused on forming coalitions. The goal in PR systems is to achieve the necessary threshold by combing with appropriate parties that have similar policy preferences and will give you a certain percentage of votes when the coalition is formed. This system will minimize corruption but will not avoid