What are the electoral systems, give a description. The main types of electoral systems, their characteristics

On the one hand, they provide an opportunity for people with political ambitions and organizational skills to be elected to government bodies, and on the other hand, they involve the general public in political life and allow ordinary citizens to influence political decisions.

electoral system broadly referred to as the system public relations associated with the formation of elected bodies of power.

The electoral system includes two main elements:

theoretical (suffrage);
practical (selective process).

Suffrage is the right of citizens to directly participate in the formation of elected institutions of power, i.e. elect and be elected. The right to vote is also understood as legal regulations governing the procedure for granting citizens the right to participate in elections and the method of formation of government bodies. The foundations of modern Russian electoral law are enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Electoral process is a set of measures for the preparation and conduct of elections. It includes, on the one hand, the election campaigns of candidates, and on the other hand, the work of election commissions to form an elected body of power.

The electoral process has the following components:

appointment of elections;
organization of electoral districts, districts, sections;
formation of election commissions;
voter registration;
nomination and registration of candidates;
preparation of ballots and absentee ballots;
election campaign; about holding a vote;
counting of votes and determination of voting results.

Principles of Democratic Elections

In order to ensure the fairness and effectiveness of the electoral system, the procedure for conducting elections must be democratic.

Democratic principles of organizing and holding elections are as follows:

universality - everything adult citizens have the right to participate in elections regardless of their gender, race, nationality, religion, property status, etc.;
equality of votes of citizens: each voter has one vote;
direct and secret ballot;
availability of alternative candidates, competitiveness of elections;
publicity of the elections;
truthful information of voters;
lack of administrative, economic and political pressure;
equality of opportunity for political parties and candidates;
voluntariness of participation in elections;
legal response to any cases of violation of the electoral law;
frequency and regularity of elections.

Features of the electoral system of the Russian Federation

V Russian Federation The established electoral system regulates the procedure for conducting elections of the head of state, deputies of the State Duma and regional authorities.

Candidate for the post President of the Russian Federation may be a citizen of Russia at least 35 years old, living in Russia for at least 10 years. A candidate cannot be a person who has a foreign citizenship or has a visible residence, an unexpunged and outstanding conviction. The same person cannot hold the office of the President of the Russian Federation for more than two terms in a row. The President is elected for six years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. Presidential elections are held on a majoritarian basis. The President is considered elected if in the first round of voting for one of the candidates the majority of voters who took part in the voting voted. If this does not happen, a second round is scheduled, in which two candidates who scored in the first round largest number votes, and the winner is the one who received more votes of the voters who took part in the voting than the other registered candidate.

Deputy of the State Duma a citizen of the Russian Federation who has reached the age of 21 and has the right to participate in elections has been elected. V State Duma 450 deputies are elected from party lists on a proportional basis. In order to overcome the electoral threshold and receive mandates, a party must gain a certain percentage of the votes. The term of office of the State Duma is five years.

Citizens of Russia also participate in elections in government bodies and elected positions in subjects of the Russian Federation. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. regional state power is established by the subjects of the Federation independently in accordance with the fundamentals of the constitutional order and the current legislation. The law establishes special days for voting in elections to state authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation and local governments - the second Sunday in March and the second Sunday in October.

Types of electoral systems

Under the electoral system in the narrow sense is understood the procedure for determining the results of voting, which depends mainly on the principle vote counting.

On this basis, there are three main types electoral systems:

majoritarian;
proportional;
mixed.

Majoritarian electoral system

In conditions majoritarian system (from fr. majorite - majority) wins the candidate who received the majority of votes. Majority can be absolute (if a candidate receives more than half of the votes) and relative (if one candidate receives more votes than another). The disadvantage of the majoritarian system is that it can reduce the chances of small parties to gain representation in government.

The majoritarian system means that in order to be elected, a candidate or party must receive a majority of the votes of the voters of the district or the whole country, while those who have collected a minority of votes do not receive mandates. Majority electoral systems are divided into absolute majority systems, which are more commonly used in presidential elections and in which the winner must receive more than half of the votes (minimum - 50% of the votes plus one vote), and relative majority systems (UK, Canada, USA, France, Japan and etc.), when it is necessary to get ahead of other contenders to win. When applying the absolute majority principle, if no candidate receives more than half of the votes, a second round of elections is held, in which the two candidates who receive the largest number of votes are presented (sometimes all candidates who receive more than the minimum number of votes in the first round are admitted to the second round). ).

proportional electoral system

proportional The electoral system involves the voting of voters according to party lists. After the election, each of the parties receives a number of mandates proportional to the percentage of votes gained (for example, a party that receives 25% of the votes gets 1/4 of the seats). In parliamentary elections, it is usually established percentage barrier(electoral threshold) that a party needs to overcome in order to get their candidates into parliament; as a result of this, small parties that do not have a wide social support, do not receive mandates. The votes for the parties that did not overcome the threshold are distributed among the parties that won the elections. A proportional system is possible only in multi-mandate constituencies, i.e. where several deputies are elected and the voter votes for each of them personally.

The essence of the proportional system is in the distribution of mandates in proportion to the number of votes received or by electoral coalitions. The main advantage of this system is the representation of parties in elective bodies in accordance with their real popularity among voters, which makes it possible to more fully express the interests of all groups, to intensify the participation of citizens in elections and in general. In order to overcome the excessive party fragmentation of the composition of parliament, to limit the possibility of representatives of radical or even extremist forces penetrating into it, many countries use protective barriers, or thresholds that establish the minimum number of votes necessary to obtain deputy mandates. Usually it ranges from 2 (Denmark) to 5% (Germany) of all votes cast. Parties that did not convene necessary minimum votes, do not receive a single mandate.

Comparative analysis of proportional and electoral systems

Majority an electoral system in which the candidate with the most votes wins contributes to the formation of a bipartisan or "bloc" party system, while proportional under which parties that have the support of only 2-3% of voters can get their candidates into parliament, reinforces the fragmentation and fragmentation of political forces, the preservation of many small parties, including extremist ones.

Bipartism assumes the presence of two large, approximately equal in influence political parties, which alternately replace each other in power by winning a majority of seats in parliament, elected by direct universal suffrage.

Mixed electoral system

Currently, many countries use mixed systems that combine elements of the majoritarian and proportional electoral systems. Thus, in Germany, one half of the deputies of the Bundestag is elected by majority system relative majority, the second - according to the proportional system. A similar system was used in Russia in the elections to the State Duma in 1993 and 1995.

mixed the system involves a combination of majoritarian and proportional systems; for example, one part of the parliament is elected by the majority system, and the second - by the proportional system; in this case, the voter receives two ballots and casts one vote for the party list, and the second for a specific candidate elected on a majoritarian basis.

In recent decades, some organizations (, green parties, etc.) use consensual electoral system. It has a positive orientation, that is, it is not focused on criticizing the opponent, but on finding the most acceptable candidate or electoral platform for all. In practice, this is expressed in the fact that the voter votes not for one, but for all (necessarily more than two) candidates and ranks their list in order of their own preferences. Five points are given for first place, four for second, three for third, two for fourth, and one for fifth. After voting, the points received are summed up, and the winner is determined by their number.

In the legal literature, two approaches to understanding the electoral system are common: broad and narrow.

Broadly speaking, the electoral system is understood as a set of social relations that are developing regarding the formation of public authorities and local self-government through the implementation voting rights citizens. With this approach, the electoral system includes the principles and conditions for the participation of citizens in elections, the procedure for their appointment, preparation and conduct, the range of subjects of the electoral process, the rules for establishing voting results and determining election results. The electoral system in a broad sense, in essence, is identified with the election campaign, which is the activity for preparing elections, carried out from the day of the official publication of the decision to call elections until the day the commission organizing the elections submits a report on the expenditure of budgetary funds allocated for them. For this reason, the use of the concept of an electoral system in a broad sense is hardly justified.

Narrow understanding of the electoral system As a rule, it is associated with the methods (techniques) of establishing the voting results and determining the winner in the elections and is considered as a kind of legal formula by which the results of the election campaign are determined at the final stage of the elections. So, in accordance with Art. 23 of the Federal Law "On general principles local self-government organizations in the Russian Federation" under the electoral system in municipal elections understood conditions for recognizing a candidate (candidates) as elected (elected), lists of candidates - admitted to the distribution of deputy mandates, as well as the procedure for distributing deputy mandates between the lists of candidates and within the lists of candidates. At the same time, one should not forget that the rules for tabulating the results of voting depend, in addition to the methods for determining the result, on a number of electoral actions that have a direct impact on the decision to elect a particular candidate. Based on this, in a legal sense, it is preferable to link a narrow understanding of the electoral system with a set of norms that fix the rules:

formation of constituencies;
nomination of candidates (lists of candidates);
determining the role of political parties (electoral associations) in elections;
approval of the form of the ballot;
determination of election results and determination of winners, including the distribution of deputy mandates among political parties (electoral associations);
conducting, if necessary, a repeat voting (second round of elections);
filling vacant seats.

Types of electoral systems

In their totality, they give the most complete picture of the elements that form the electoral system, different combination and the content of which determine selection various kinds electoral systems.

In the history of the development of electoral legislation, many approaches to the design of electoral systems have been formed. At the same time, the choice of one or another type of electoral system is one of key issues political life country, the decision of which is significantly influenced by the state of democratic development and the balance of political forces. It is no coincidence that the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation came to this conclusion. In the ruling of November 20, 1995 on the refusal to accept for consideration the request of a group of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the request Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the verification of the constitutionality of a number of provisions of the Federal Law of June 21, 1995 "On the election of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation" The Court emphasized that the choice of one or another version of the electoral system and its consolidation in the electoral law depends on specific socio-political conditions and is a matter of political expediency. In Russian conditions, this choice is made by the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in accordance with the rules of legislative procedure. This circumstance, however, does not mean at all that the issue of the electoral system is purely political and lacks legal meaning. The legal significance of the electoral system consists in the proper legislative consolidation of the entire set of rules governing relations related to the determination of election results and forming the legal design of the electoral system, including the consolidation of its various types.

The current electoral legislation provides for the possibility of using the following types of electoral systems: majoritarian, proportional and mixed (majority-proportional) electoral system.

Majoritarian electoral system

The point is to divide the territory where elections are held into constituencies in which voters vote personally for certain candidates. To be elected, a candidate (candidates, if the elections are held in multi-member constituencies) must receive a majority of the votes of the voters who took part in the voting. From a legal point of view, the majoritarian electoral system is distinguished by its universality of application, which allows it to be used for the election of both collegial bodies and individual officials. The right to nominate candidates under this electoral system is vested both in citizens by way of self-nomination and in political parties (electoral associations). In the event of the formation of vacant mandates, due, among other things, to the early termination of the powers of deputies (elected officials), it is mandatory to hold new (additional, early or repeated) elections.

Majoritarian electoral system has varieties. Depending on the electoral districts formed, majoritarian electoral systems are distinguished, which involve voting in a single electoral district, single-seat and multi-seat electoral districts. The majority system based on a single constituency is used only in the election of officials. When electing deputies of legislative (representative) bodies of state power, representative bodies municipalities either single-member or multi-member constituencies are used. Moreover, the maximum number of mandates per one multi-member constituency cannot exceed five. However, this restriction does not apply to elections to local self-government bodies. rural settlement, as well as another municipality, the boundaries of the multi-member constituency of which coincide with the boundaries of the polling station.

There are majoritarian systems of relative, absolute and qualified majority. The relative majority system assumes that in order to be elected, it is required to get the largest number of votes of voters in relation to other candidates. It can be used in the elections of deputies of legislative (representative) bodies of state power, representative bodies of municipalities, as well as in the elections of heads of municipalities.

Under an absolute majority system, to elect a candidate, it is necessary that he receives more than half of the votes of the number of voters who took part in the voting. If none of the candidates manages to gain such a number of votes, a second ballot is held for the two candidates for whom the largest number of votes were cast in the first round of elections. To win in the second round using such a system, it is enough to gain a relative majority of votes. The absolute majority system is used in the elections of the President of the Russian Federation, and also, if it is provided for by the law of the subject of the Federation, in the elections of heads of municipalities. In principle, one cannot exclude its use in the elections of deputies of legislative (representative) bodies of state power, representative bodies of municipalities, but such cases are unknown to the current electoral legislation.

The system of qualified majority is quite rare. It is based on the fact that in order to win elections, it is necessary not only to get one or another majority of votes, but a majority fixed in the law (at least 1/3, 2/3, 3/4) of the number of voters who voted. At present, it is practically not used, although earlier cases of its use took place in some subjects of the Federation. Thus, the now repealed Law of Primorsky Territory of September 28, 1999 "On the election of the governor of Primorsky Territory" provided that a candidate who received the largest number votes, provided that it is at least 35% of the number of voters who took part in the voting.

proportional electoral system

The following features are characteristic. Its application is limited to elections of deputies of legislative (representative) bodies; it does not apply to the election of officials. Only political parties (electoral associations) have the right to nominate candidates. Under such a system, voters do not vote personally for candidates, but for lists of candidates (party lists) put forward by electoral associations, and lists of candidates who have overcome the barrier, i.e., who have received the minimum required number of votes established by law, which is not may exceed 1% of the number of voters who took part in the voting. The resulting vacancies will be filled by the following candidates from the lists of candidates (party lists) admitted to the distribution of mandates, as a result of which no by-elections are foreseen.

Russian legislation knows two types of proportional electoral system, due to the use of closed (hard) or open (soft) lists of candidates. When voting by closed lists, a voter has the right to vote only for one or another list of candidates as a whole. Open lists allow a voter to vote not only for a specific list of candidates, but also for one or more candidates within that list. In our country, a clear preference is given to closed lists. Voting by open lists is provided only in a few subjects of the Federation (Republic of Kalmykia, Tver region, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug).

The proportional electoral system is used in the elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. In the subjects of the Federation in its pure form, it is rare (Dagestan, Ingushetia, Amur Region, Sverdlovsk region, G. Saint Petersburg). As for municipal elections, the proportional electoral system is generally uncharacteristic for them. A rare exception in this regard is the city of Spass k-Dalniy of Primorsky Krai, whose charter provides for the election of all deputies of the city district on party lists.

Mixed electoral system

A mixed (majority-proportional) electoral system is a combination of majoritarian and proportional systems with a statutory number of deputy mandates distributed over each of them. Its application allows you to combine the advantages and smooth out the shortcomings of the majority and proportional systems. At the same time, political parties (electoral associations) are given the opportunity to nominate the same persons as candidates both on a party list and in single-mandate (multi-mandate) constituencies. The law only requires that in the event of simultaneous nomination in a single-mandate (multi-mandate) constituency and in the list of candidates, information about this must be indicated in the ballot prepared for voting in the corresponding single-mandate (multi-mandate) constituency

The mixed system is currently used in the elections of legislative (representative) bodies of state power in almost all subjects of the Federation. This is due to the fact that the federal law“On the Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation” (Article 35) requires that at least half of the deputy mandates in the legislative (representative) body of state power of a constituent entity of the Federation or in one of its chambers be distributed among the lists of candidates nominated by electoral associations in proportion to the number of votes received by each of the lists of candidates.

When holding elections of deputies of representative bodies of municipalities, a mixed majority proportional system used much less frequently. In all likelihood, this is due to the fact that federal legislation does not require the mandatory use of elements of the proportional system in relation to the municipal level of formation of representative bodies of power.

Types of electoral systems are determined by the principles of formation of a representative body of power and the corresponding procedure for the distribution of mandates based on the results of voting. In reality, there are as many modifications of electoral systems as there are states that use elections to form public authorities. However, the centuries-old history of the development of representative democracy has developed two basic types of electoral systems - majoritarian and proportional, the elements of which one way or another manifest themselves in diverse models of electoral systems in various countries. Each of these systems has its own varieties, advantages and disadvantages.

Majoritarian electoral system derives its name from the French word majorite (majority), and the very name of this type of system to a large extent clarifies its essence - the winner and, accordingly, the owner of the corresponding elective post becomes the participant in the election struggle who received the majority of votes.

The majority electoral system exists in three versions:

1) plurality system when the winner is the candidate who managed to get more votes than any of his rivals;

2) absolute majority system, at which more than half of the votes cast in the elections must be won in order to win (the minimum number in this case is 50% of the votes plus 1 vote);

3) majority system of mixed or combined type, at which to win in the first round it is necessary to gain an absolute majority of votes, and if this result is not achieved by any of the candidates, then the second round is held, in which not all candidates go, but only those two who are in the first round took 1st and 11th places, and then in the second round, to win the elections, it is enough to get a relative majority of votes, that is, to get more votes than a competitor.

Under the majoritarian system, the votes cast are counted in single-mandate constituencies, each of which can only elect one candidate. The number of such single-mandate constituencies under the majoritarian system in parliamentary elections is equal to the constitutional number of deputy seats in parliament. During the elections of the President of the country, the whole country becomes such a single-mandate constituency.

Advantages of the majority system:

1. This is a universal system, since using it, you can elect both individual representatives (president, governor, mayor), and collective bodies of state power or local self-government (country parliament, city municipality).

2. Due to the fact that under the majority system, specific candidates are nominated and compete with each other. The voter can take into account not only his party affiliation (or lack thereof), political program, adherence to one or another ideological doctrine, but also take into account personal qualities candidate: his professional suitability, reputation, compliance with the moral criteria and beliefs of the voter, etc.

3. In elections held according to the majoritarian system, representatives of small parties and even non-partisan independent candidates can really participate and win along with representatives of large political parties.

4. Representatives elected in single-member majoritarian districts receive a greater degree of independence from political parties and party leaders, since they receive a mandate directly from voters. This makes it possible to more correctly observe the principle of democracy, in accordance with which the source of power should be voters, and not party structures. Under a majoritarian system, the elected representative becomes much closer to his constituents, as they know who exactly they are voting for.

Of course, the majority electoral system, like any other human invention, is not ideal. Its advantages are not realized automatically, but with “other equal conditions” and in a very high degree depending on the “environment of application”, which is the political regime. For example, in a totalitarian political regime practically none of the advantages of this electoral system can be fully realized, since in this case it only performs the function of a mechanism for the realization of the will political power and not voters.

Among the objective shortcomings of the majority system, which, as it were, are inherent in it from the very beginning, the following are usually distinguished:

1. Under the majoritarian electoral system, the votes of those voters who were cast for non-winning candidates “disappear” and are not converted into powers of authority, despite the fact that in the total amount of votes cast in the elections, it is precisely these “non-winning” votes that can make up a very significant part , and sometimes - not much less than the votes that determined the winner, or even exceeding it.

2. The majoritarian system is rightly considered more expensive, financially costly due to the possible second round of voting, and due to the fact that instead of election campaigns of several parties, several thousand election campaigns of individual candidates are being held.

3. Under the majoritarian system, due to the possible victory of independent candidates, as well as candidates of small parties, there is a much greater likelihood of the formation of too dispersed, poorly structured and therefore poorly managed authorities, the effectiveness of which is significantly reduced because of this. This shortcoming is especially characteristic of countries with a poorly structured party system and a large number of parties.

4. Opponents of the majority system argue that it creates favorable opportunities for the growth of the role of financial sponsors, contrary to the constitutional rights of voters. Often local authorities the authorities are accused of using "administrative resources", i.e. in the support of the administration of certain candidates, parties, etc.

The second type of electoral system is proportional system. The name itself is largely able to clarify its essence: deputy mandates are distributed in direct proportion to the number of votes cast for a particular political party. The proportional system has a number of significant differences from the majority system described above. Under a proportional system, votes are counted not within a single-member constituency, but in multi-member constituencies.

Under a proportional electoral system, the main subjects of the electoral process are not individual candidates, but political parties, whose lists of candidates compete with each other in the struggle for votes. With a proportional voting system, only one round of elections is held, a kind of “passability barrier” is introduced, which usually amounts to 4-5 percent of the number of votes cast nationwide. Smaller and less organized parties are most often unable to overcome this barrier and therefore cannot count on deputy seats.

At the same time, the votes cast for these parties (and, accordingly, the deputy mandates behind these votes) are redistributed in favor of those parties that have managed to score a passing score and can count on deputy mandates. The lion's share of these "redistributed" votes goes to those parties that managed to get the largest amount votes. That is why the proportional voting system is primarily interested in the so-called “mass” (they are also centralized and ideological parties), which do not focus on attractiveness bright personalities, but on the mass support of its members and supporters, on the readiness of its electorate to vote not for personalized, but for ideological and political reasons.

Election according to party lists according to the proportional system usually requires much lower expenses, but “on the other hand” in this case, between the people’s representative (deputy) and the people (voters) themselves, a figure of a kind of political intermediary appears in the person of the party leader, with whose opinion the “listed” deputy is forced be considered to a much greater extent than an MP from a majoritarian constituency.

There is also also mixed or majority proportional system, which, however, does not represent a separate, independent type of electoral system, but is characterized by a mechanical unification, a parallel action of the two main systems. The functioning of such an electoral system is caused, as a rule, by a political compromise between parties that are mainly interested in a majoritarian system, and those parties that prefer a purely proportional system.

In this case, the constitutionally designated number of parliamentary mandates is divided in a certain proportion (most often 11) between the majoritarian and proportional systems. With this ratio, the number of single-member constituencies in the country is equal to half of the mandates in parliament, and the remaining half of the mandates are played according to the proportional system in one multi-member constituency. Each voter at the same time votes for a specific candidate in his single-mandate constituency, and for the list of one of the political parties in the national constituency.

The process of improving electoral systems is constant: society seeks to find a model of the electoral system that would allow the formation of an effective government that acts in the interests of society, would contain more advantages in this sense and would be devoid of significant shortcomings. Society is accumulating vast experience along this path, which is the basis for the emergence of more and more progressive and truly democratic electoral systems.

UKRAINE IN THE SYSTEM OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The leading role in the formation of the foreign policy situation around Ukraine, of course, is played by the Russian Federation. And this is understandable: cultural, civilizational, mental, social (according to statistical sources, most of of the population of Ukraine recognizes itself as Russian, in any case (sorry for the clumsy term, but it is commonly used) - Russian-cultural people), economic (energy dependence on the Russian Federation), finally, historical and even geographical factors - all this determines the importance of Russia in the system international relations developing around this state.

A lot has been (and will be) written about the specifics of Russian-Ukrainian relations. Therefore, today let's talk about other aspects of Ukraine's international position.
And let's start, perhaps, with the most "topical".

Types of electoral systems

The types of electoral systems are determined by the principles for the formation of a representative body of power and the corresponding procedure for the distribution of mandates based on the results of voting, also provided for in the electoral legislation. Since in different countries the principles for the formation of elected authorities and the procedure for distributing mandates are different, there are actually as many modifications of electoral systems as there are states that use elections to form public authorities. However, the centuries-old history of the development of representative democracy has developed two basic types of electoral systems - majoritarian and proportional, elements of which are manifested in one way or another in diverse models of electoral systems in different countries.

Majoritarian electoral system

The majoritarian electoral system is based on the system of personal representation in power. A specific person is always nominated as a candidate for a particular elective position in the majoritarian system.

The mechanism for nominating candidates may vary: in some countries self-nomination is allowed along with the nomination of candidates from political parties or public associations, in other countries candidates can only be nominated by political parties. But in any case, in the majoritarian constituency, the balloting of candidates takes place on a personal basis. Accordingly, the voter this case votes for an individually determined candidate who is an independent subject of the electoral process - a citizen exercising his passive electoral right. Another thing is that this particular candidate can be supported by any political party. However, formally, a citizen is not elected from the party, but “on his own”.

As a rule, in most cases, elections under the majoritarian system are carried out in single-member constituencies. The number of constituencies in this case corresponds to the number of mandates. The winner in each district is the candidate who receives the statutory majority of the votes in the district. The majority in different countries is different: absolute, in which a candidate must gain more than 50% of the vote in order to receive a mandate; relative, in which the winner is the candidate who received more votes than all other candidates (provided that less votes were cast against all candidates than for the winning candidate); qualified, in which a candidate, in order to win the election, must gain more than 2/3, 75% or 3/4 of the votes. The majority of votes can also be calculated in different ways - either from the total number of voters in the district, or, most often, from the number of voters who came to the polls and voted. The absolute majority system involves voting in two rounds, if in the first round none of the candidates achieved the required majority. Candidates who received a relative majority of votes in the first round participate in the second round. Such a system is costly from a financial point of view, but is used in presidential elections in most countries of the world, including Russia.

Similarly, the winning candidates are determined in multi-member majoritarian districts with a categorical vote. The fundamental difference is only that the voter has as many votes as the number of mandates "played out" in the constituency. Each vote can only be given to one of the candidates.

Thus, the majoritarian electoral system is a system for the formation of elected bodies of power on the basis of personal (individual) representation, in which the candidate who receives the majority of votes prescribed by law is considered elected.

The majoritarian electoral system is the only one possible in the elections of heads of state or state entities (for example, subjects of the federation). It is also used in elections to collegiate bodies of power (legislative assemblies).

proportional electoral system

The proportional electoral system is based on the principle of party representation. With such a system, parties put forward lists of candidates ranked by them, for which the voter is invited to vote.

The voter actually votes for a political party (an electoral bloc or a coalition of parties, if their creation is allowed by law), which, in his opinion, most adequately and consistently expresses and protects his interests in the political system. The mandates are distributed among the parties in proportion to the number of votes cast for them in percentage terms.

The seats in the representative body of power that a political party (electoral bloc) has received are occupied by candidates from the party list in accordance with the priority established by the party. For example, a party that received 20% of the votes in the parliamentary elections in a single nationwide 450-member constituency should receive 90 deputy mandates.

The first 90 candidates from the corresponding party list will receive them. Thus, a proportional electoral system is a system for the formation of elected bodies of power on the basis of party representation, in which deputy seats (mandates) in a representative body of power are distributed in accordance with the number of votes received by parties in percentage terms. This system ensures adequate representation of political interests in elected bodies of power. In a proportional electoral system, in contrast to the majoritarian system, the loss of votes of voters is minimal and is associated, most often, with the so-called "electoral barrier" - the minimum number of votes that a party must gain in elections in order to be eligible to participate in the distribution of mandates. The electoral threshold is established in order to restrict access to representative bodies of power for small, often marginal, non-influential parties. The votes that did not bring mandates to such parties are distributed (also proportionally) among the winning parties. Like the majoritarian, proportional electoral system has its own varieties. There are two types of proportional systems:

A proportional system with a single nationwide multi-member constituency, the number of mandates in which corresponds to the number of seats in the elected body of power: only national parties put forward their lists of candidates, voters vote for these lists throughout the country; proportional electoral system with multi-member constituencies. political parties form lists of candidates for electoral districts, respectively, the deputy mandates "played out" in the district are distributed based on the influence of the party in this district.

The main complaint against the proportional electoral system is that the voter does not have the opportunity to influence the personal composition of the elected body of power. In order to overcome this shortcoming, in some countries the proportional electoral system involves preferential voting. With such a vote, the voter not only votes for one or another party list, but also has the opportunity to change the priority of the party list by determining his preferences (ranking or ordinal voting). Another significant claim to the proportional system is related to the relative independence of party deputies from the regions and the impossibility in this regard to express regional interests in power. The Russian legislator tried to overcome this shortcoming by providing breakdown of the federal list candidates from the party for regional groups corresponding, under certain conditions, to a part of the territory of a subject of the federation, a subject of the Russian Federation, a group of subjects of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the federal list of candidates from a party must also provide for federal part. V law on elections of deputies of the State Duma distribution of mandates is envisaged taking into account regional preferences in relation to the list of candidates from a particular party. For this purpose, a special methodology has been developed in the law. It seems that this approach, combined with the main advantages of the proportional electoral system, is one of the most effective in ensuring adequate representation of the interests of civil society in power.

Mixed electoral system

Attempts to maximize the advantages of basic electoral systems and level their shortcomings lead to the emergence of mixed electoral systems. The essence of the mixed electoral system lies in the fact that some of the deputies to the same representative body of power are elected by the majority system, and the other part - by the proportional system. At the same time, the creation of majoritarian constituencies (most often single-member, less often multi-member) and constituencies (with a proportional system with multi-member constituencies) or a single nationwide multi-member constituency for voting on party lists of candidates is expected. Accordingly, the voter acquires the right to simultaneously vote for a candidate (candidates) running in the majoritarian district on a personal basis and for a political party (list of candidates from a political party). In reality, during the voting procedure, the voter receives at least two ballots: one for voting for a specific candidate in the majoritarian district, the other for voting for a party.

Consequently, a mixed electoral system is a system for the formation of representative bodies of power, in which part of the deputies is elected on a personal basis in majoritarian districts, and the other part is elected on a party basis according to the proportional principle of representation.

A similar system was used for the election of deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the first four convocations. Half (225) of the Duma deputies were elected by the majoritarian system in 225 single-mandate constituencies. The election took place on the basis of a relative majority: the candidate who received more votes than other candidates was considered elected, provided that there were fewer votes against all candidates than for the winning candidate. At the same time, the elections were recognized as valid if more than 25% of voters in the district turned out.

The second half of the deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation were elected according to the proportional system on the basis of party representation in a single federal 225-member constituency. Political parties put forward lists of their candidates compiled in order of priority (ranked), for which voters throughout the country were invited to vote. Accordingly, the right to participate in such elections was granted (under certain conditions) only to federal parties or electoral blocs that included such parties. The right to participate in the proportional distribution of mandates was given to parties (electoral blocs) that received more than 5% of the votes in the country as a whole. The elections were considered valid if there was a 25% voter turnout, and also if, following the results of the voting, the winning parties received in aggregate at least 50% of the votes of the voters who voted. Mixed electoral systems are usually distinguished by the nature of the relationship between the elements of the majoritarian and proportional systems used in them. On this basis, two types of mixed systems are distinguished:

A mixed unrelated electoral system, in which the distribution of mandates according to the majoritarian system does not depend in any way on the results of elections according to the proportional system (the above examples are just examples of a mixed unrelated electoral system);

A mixed tie-in electoral system in which the distribution of majoritarian seats depends on the results of elections by proportional representation. In this case, the candidates in the majoritarian districts are nominated by the political parties participating in the elections under the proportional system. The mandates received by the parties in the majoritarian districts are distributed depending on the results of the elections according to the proportional system.

In scientific literature, the term "electoral system", including in Russian jurisprudence, is usually used in two meanings - broad and narrow.

In a broad sense, the electoral system is a system of social relations associated with the election of public authorities. Obviously, the electoral system in such a broad sense is regulated not only by legal norms. The scope of these relations is very wide. It includes questions and definitions of the circle of voters and those elected, and the infrastructure of elections (the creation of electoral units, electoral bodies, etc.), and relations that develop at each stage of the electoral process until its completion. The electoral system is regulated by the norms of electoral law, understood as a system of legal norms, which is a sub-branch of constitutional (state) law. However, not the entire electoral system is governed by legal norms. It also includes relations regulated by corporate norms (charters of political public associations, etc.), as well as the customs and traditions of a given society.

However, people are more interested in the electoral system in the so-called narrow sense. This is a way of determining which of the candidates who ran is elected to office or as a deputy. Depending on which electoral system will be used, the results of elections with the same voting results may turn out to be completely different. Therefore, political forces often fight among themselves for a more advantageous electoral system (however, assessing its advantageousness, they may make a mistake).

If we try to define the term "electoral system", abstracting from its meaning in the narrow or broad sense, then, apparently, the electoral system should be understood as a set of rules, techniques, procedures, processes and institutions that ensure the legitimate formation of elected bodies of state power and local self-government on the basis of adequate representation of the diverse interests of civil society.

Electoral system modern Russia, as it is clear from the above, has undergone significant changes, which was largely determined by the emerging political situation. The political elite is in search of the most effective electoral technologies, effective in the sense of realizing the political tasks facing it. Therefore, even today it is hardly legitimate to talk about the finally established electoral system in Russia.

Currently, there are at least four electoral systems in Russia, i.е. four ways to organize direct elections: the majority system of an absolute majority in two rounds (this is how we elect the President of the Russian Federation); the majority system of a relative majority (with it there is only one round), which is used in the elections of half of the deputies of the legislative bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and in some municipalities; a mixed electoral system (seats are divided in half between party lists and candidates in single-member constituencies) and a fully proportional system, which will be used for the State Duma elections under the 2005 law.

At one time, our Soviet laws were extremely stingy. Now the number of words leads to a deterioration in the quality and degree of familiarity of the population with the laws. But such laws are not the state budget, they are addressed specifically to citizens.

However, despite the existence of a number of problems, legislation (federal and regional) allows you to determine the use of a particular electoral system in the formation of specific political authorities.

Naturally, elections of the President of the Russian Federation are carried out according to the majority system. They are held in a single federal electoral district, which includes the entire territory of the Russian Federation. Voters residing outside the territory of the Russian Federation are considered to be assigned to a federal electoral district. Elections of the President of the Russian Federation are appointed by the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

Candidates for the post of President of the Russian Federation may be nominated by political parties that have the right to take part in elections, electoral blocs, as well as by way of self-nomination. A citizen of the Russian Federation may nominate his candidacy provided that his self-nomination is supported by a group of voters in the amount of at least 500 people who have a passive electoral right. A candidate nominated by way of self-nomination is obliged to collect in his support, and a political party, an electoral bloc - in support of the nomination of a candidate by a political party, an electoral bloc, respectively, at least two million signatures of voters. At the same time, one subject of the Russian Federation must have no more than 50 thousand signatures of voters whose place of residence is located on the territory of this subject of the Russian Federation. If the collection of voter signatures is carried out among voters permanently residing outside the territory of the Russian Federation, total these signatures cannot be more than 50 thousand. A political party whose federal list of candidates is admitted to the distribution of deputy mandates in the State Duma of the Russian Federation does not collect signatures of voters in support of the candidates nominated by them. In the event of early or repeated elections of the President of the Russian Federation, the number of signatures of voters is reduced by half.

The voter turnout threshold should be above 50% of citizens eligible to vote. A candidate who receives more than half of the votes of the voters who voted is considered elected.

The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation is not elected, it is formed from representatives of the legislative and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (respectively, two representatives from the region).

Elections of deputies of the State Duma The Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, starting from 2007, will be held according to the proportional system. Elections of deputies to the State Duma of a new convocation are appointed by the President of the Russian Federation. 450 deputies are elected to the State Duma from a single federal constituency.

Deputies are elected in proportion to the number of votes cast for federal lists of candidates for deputies of the State Duma from political parties. Consequently, candidates for deputies of the State Duma are nominated as part of federal lists from political parties that, in accordance with the law, have the right to participate in elections. And such a right is granted only to federal parties registered in the prescribed manner no later than 1 year before the elections, and having their regional branches in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

The heads of regions are appointed by the President of the Russian Federation nominating candidates to the legislative assemblies of the relevant subjects of the Russian Federation, which must approve them in office. According to the Federal Law On Amendments to the Federal Law "On the General Principles of Organization of Legislative (Representative) and Executive Bodies of State Power of the Subjects of the Russian Federation" and to the Federal Law "On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation, direct gubernatorial elections replaced by the approval of the heads of regions by local legislative assemblies on the proposal of the president. The candidacy of the head of the region is submitted by the president 35 days before the expiration of the term of office of the incumbent governor, and within 14 days the regional parliament must make its decision. If the legislative assembly rejects the proposed candidate twice, the president has the right to dissolve it.

In modern Russia, various forces influence the formation of the electoral system. Among them there are those who sincerely hope to polish the democratic procedures for the formation of a truly representative government. However, there are many political forces that are trying to form an electoral system “for themselves”, guaranteeing their victory in any case. In this sense, it is not at all accidental. in electoral law There are many loopholes in Russia for unscrupulous participants in the electoral process. These, undoubtedly, include the use of the notorious “administrative resource”, the removal of principal rivals from the elections through the courts, sometimes for far-fetched reasons and immediately before the voting day, the “ejection” of ballots for those who did not appear at the polling stations, outright fraud of the election results, etc. d. The result of the struggle for the formation of a new electoral system in Russia will largely be predetermined by the general direction of the changes now taking place in Russia.

There are three main types of electoral systems:

§ majoritarian;

§ proportional;

§ mixed.

Majoritarian electoral system

Under the conditions of the majoritarian system (from the French majorite - majority), the candidate who receives the majority of votes wins. Majority can be absolute (if a candidate receives more than half of the votes) and relative (if one candidate receives more votes than another). The disadvantage of the majoritarian system is that it can reduce the chances of small parties to gain representation in government.

proportional electoral system

The proportional electoral system means voting of voters according to party lists. After the election, each of the parties receives a number of mandates proportional to the percentage of votes gained (for example, a party that receives 25% of the votes gets 1/4 of the seats). In parliamentary elections, there is usually a percentage barrier (electoral threshold) that a party must overcome in order to get their candidates into parliament; as a result, small parties that do not have broad social support do not receive mandates. The votes for the parties that did not overcome the threshold are distributed among the parties that won the elections. A proportional system is possible only in multi-mandate constituencies, i.e. where several deputies are elected and the voter votes for each of them personally.

The essence of the proportional system is the distribution of mandates in proportion to the number of votes received by parties or electoral coalitions. The main advantage of this system is the representation of parties in elected bodies in accordance with their real popularity among voters, which makes it possible to more fully express the interests of all groups of society, to intensify the participation of citizens in elections and politics in general. In order to overcome the excessive party fragmentation of the composition of parliament, to limit the possibility of representatives of radical or even extremist forces penetrating into it, many countries use protective barriers, or thresholds that establish the minimum number of votes necessary to obtain deputy mandates. Usually it ranges from 2 (Denmark) to 5% (Germany) of all votes cast. Parties that do not collect the required minimum of votes do not receive a single mandate.

Mixed electoral system

Currently, many countries use mixed systems that combine elements of the majoritarian and proportional electoral systems. Thus, in Germany, one half of the deputies of the Bundestag is elected according to the majoritarian system of relative majority, the second - according to the proportional system. A similar system was used in Russia in the elections to the State Duma in 1993 and 1995.

A mixed system involves a combination of majoritarian and proportional systems; for example, one part of the parliament is elected by a majoritarian system, and the second by a proportional one; in this case, the voter receives two ballots and casts one vote for the party list, and the second - for a specific candidate elected on a majoritarian basis.

14. The electoral system of Russia. The reform of the electoral system in present stage .

The electoral system includes two main elements:

§ theoretical (suffrage);

§ practical (electoral process).

Suffrage is the right of citizens to directly participate in the formation of elective institutions of power, i.e. elect and be elected. Electoral law is also understood as the legal norms governing the procedure for granting citizens the right to participate in elections and the method of forming government bodies. The foundations of modern Russian electoral law are enshrined in the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The electoral process is a set of activities for the preparation and conduct of elections. It includes, on the one hand, the election campaigns of candidates, and on the other hand, the work of election commissions to form an elected body of power.

The electoral process has the following components:

§ appointment of elections;

§ organization of constituencies, districts, precincts;

§ formation of election commissions;

§ voter registration;

§ nomination and registration of candidates;

§ preparation of ballots and absentee ballots;

In the Russian Federation, the established electoral system regulates the procedure for holding elections for the head of state, deputies of the State Duma and regional authorities.

Candidate for the post President of the Russian Federation may be a citizen of Russia at least 35 years old, living in Russia for at least 10 years. A candidate cannot be a person who has a foreign citizenship or has a visible residence, an unexpunged and outstanding conviction. The same person cannot hold the office of the President of the Russian Federation for more than two terms in a row. The President is elected for six years on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot. Presidential elections are held on a majoritarian basis. The President is considered elected if in the first round of voting for one of the candidates the majority of voters who took part in the voting voted. If this does not happen, a second round is appointed, in which the two candidates who received the largest number of votes in the first round participate, and the one who received more votes of the voters who took part in the voting than the other registered candidate wins.

Deputy of the State Duma a citizen of the Russian Federation who has reached the age of 21 and has the right to participate in elections has been elected. 450 deputies are elected to the State Duma from party lists on a proportional basis. In order to overcome the electoral threshold and receive mandates, a party must gain a certain percentage of the votes. The term of office of the State Duma is five years.

Citizens of Russia also participate in elections to state bodies and elected positions in subjects of the Russian Federation. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. the system of regional state authorities is established by the subjects of the Federation independently in accordance with the fundamentals of the constitutional order and the current legislation. The law establishes special days for voting in elections to state authorities of the constituent entities of the Federation and local governments - the second Sunday in March and the second Sunday in October.

Reform.

The electoral legislation of Russia is currently at the stage of reform. Reform regulatory framework the electoral process, like any legislative reform, has significant consequences for the development of the entire system of Russian law.

1. The first stage of the reform was the renewal of the electoral legislation in 2002-2003.

V new edition Federal Law No. 67-FZ of June 12, 2002 “On Basic Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right to Participate in a Referendum of Citizens of the Russian Federation”, Federal Law No. 175-FZ of December 20, 2002 “On Elections of Deputies of the State Duma, of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation”, Federal Law No. 19-FZ of January 10, 2003 “On Elections of the President of the Russian Federation” 1 . The above acts introduced a number of significant changes in the electoral system of Russia.

2. In 2004 various bodies authorities were put forward and new initiatives to reform the Russian electoral system.

At the federal level, elections to representative bodies of state power are now held according to a mixed system. However, the election practice recent years showed that the majority of candidates for the federal parliament are elected from political parties. In this regard, during the reform of the electoral legislation in 2005, a fully proportional system of elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation was introduced.

In our opinion, the introduction of a proportional electoral system at the level of the Federation is quite acceptable.

Another significant change in the Russian electoral system in 2005 was the change in the procedure for electing heads of regions. The heads of the subjects of the Russian Federation will be elected not directly by the population, but by the regional parliaments on the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation.

3. Today, the Russian state is making every effort to ensure the exercise of power by citizens and to optimize the electoral process in Russia. However, state efforts in this direction alone are clearly not enough. It seems that without real action by political parties, as well as citizens, the goals set can hardly be achieved. At the present stage of development of Russian statehood, a more active participation of the people in the exercise of state power, the formation and development of civil society are required. This will help ensure not only the effectiveness of electoral procedures, but will also positively affect everything further development Russia and its relations with other countries.