Majority –
it is based on the principle of majority: the candidate who receives the most votes in the constituency compared to other candidates is elected
In the majority system, there are 3 types of majority: qualified, absolute and relative
Under a supermajority majoritarian system, the law establishes a certain percentage of the vote that a candidate must receive in order to be elected. This percentage is usually greater than the absolute majority, i.e. 50% + 1 vote. The percentage of votes of voters can be established not from the number of voters, but from the number of registered
Under an absolute majority system, at least 50% of all votes cast must be received in order to be elected. This is lower than under the qualified majority system, but still quite high. Therefore, under this system, there is also a second round in 2 options: either 2 candidates who have scored the largest number votes, or all candidates who received the percentage of votes established by law. In both cases, the candidate who receives a relative majority of the votes compared to the others is considered elected.
Under a majority system, a candidate must receive more votes than any other candidate in order to be elected. Positive aspects - the exclusion of the second round of elections, gives good results with a 2 party system, when 2 candidates
In the countries of Anglo-Saxon law, the majority system of relative majority is used with any participation of voters, in other countries, when applying this system, in order for elections to take place, a certain% of voters who voted is required
proportional electoral system
can be applied in multi-member and nationwide constituencies. The main thing is the calculation of the electoral quota - this is the number of votes required to elect at least 1 deputy from the list of candidates nominated by the party to electoral associations. The electoral quota is calculated in different ways. Definition of natural quota − total of the votes cast in the constituency is divided by the number of seats in the given constituency. At proportional systems It can be 2 rounds. Only parties that have collected a certain percentage of votes are allowed to the second round. The calculation of the electoral quota for the 2nd round is based on the number of remaining unfilled seats. The voter votes for the party program. In some countries, a preference vote is possible, which allows the voter to support a certain party and give preference to a particular candidate. The protective barrier was introduced with the aim of creating large party factions in parliament, so that the government would rely in parliament on a party majority, and not on a fragmented set of parties. The barrier point is the established percentage of votes that a party needs to receive in order to have access to deputy mandates.
Mixed electoral
system Some of the deputies are elected according to one system, and some according to another. Mixed systems, like proportional systems, can only be used in the election of a collegial body. They cannot be used, for example, in presidential elections
The electoral system is the procedure for organizing and holding elections to representative institutions or an individual leading representative (for example, the president of a country), enshrined in legal norms, as well as in the established practice of state and public organizations. In each country, electoral norms have their own specifics, due to historical, cultural, political, social features development of these countries. It is customary to distinguish three main types of electoral systems: majoritarian (absolute and relative majority), proportional and mixed.
Historically, the first electoral system was majority system , which is based on the principle of the majority (French majorite - majority): those candidates who receive the established majority of votes are considered elected. Depending on what kind of majority it is (relative, absolute or qualified), the system has varieties. The majority system is considered the simplest system, in which the candidate who receives the largest number of votes, that is, more votes than any of his rivals, is considered elected. Such a system has been successfully applied in the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, India and Japan. This system can be used in both single-member and multi-member constituencies.
Under the majority system of relative majority, the candidate who receives the largest number of votes, i.e. more votes than any of his rivals. The majoritarian system of relative majority is unfair to medium and small political parties. The mandate goes to the candidate who receives a relative majority of the votes, while there could be more votes against him than for him. This means that he was elected by an absolute minority of voters, although by a relative majority.
For an absolute majority system, the candidate who receives the absolute majority of the votes wins, i.e. 50% + 1 vote. Usually, a lower threshold for voter participation is set. If it is not reached, then the elections are considered invalid or failed.
In the case of the application of the majority system of a qualified majority, the candidate who received a qualified majority, i.e. statutory, majority vote. The qualified majority exceeds the absolute majority. Such a system is extremely rare, since it is even less effective than the absolute majority system.
Already at the dawn of the formation of the constitutional system, the ideas of proportional representation of political associations began to be put forward, in which the number of mandates received by such an association corresponds to the number of votes cast for its candidates. The practically proportional system was first used in Belgium in 1889. By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were 152 of its varieties. Now it exists in more than 60 countries. society majoritarian pre-election pr
main idea proportional systems is that each political party receives in parliament or other representative body the number of mandates proportional to the number of votes cast for it. The proportional electoral system guarantees representation even for relatively small parties, which, under a parliamentary or mixed form board creates complex problems in the formation of the government and in the future, in the course of its activities. Of course, problems arise when no party or a stable coalition of parties has a stable majority in parliament, and the proportional system favors such a situation.
A proportional system is followed by a significant number of countries. These are Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Israel, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, etc. However, the proportional system also has its drawbacks. First, there are difficulties in forming a government, since multi-party coalitions include parties with different goals and objectives. Governments established on this basis are unstable. Secondly, the proportional system leads to the fact that representation in the bodies state power received by political forces that do not enjoy support in the whole country. Thirdly, under a proportional system, due to the fact that voting is carried out not for specific candidates, but for parties, the direct connection between deputies and voters is weak. Fourth, since under this system voting goes for political parties, deputies are dependent on their party leadership, which can adversely affect the discussion and adoption of important documents.
Due to the significant shortcomings of the proportional and majoritarian systems, the formation of mixed electoral system . Its essence lies in the fact that part of the deputy mandates is distributed in accordance with the principles of the majoritarian system, which contributes to the formation of a stable government, and the other part - in accordance with the principles of the proportional system, which contributes to a more complete account of votes and more accurately reflects the real picture. political situation in the country. The mixed electoral system is typical for Russia, Australia, Egypt, the United Mexican States.
Majoritarian electoral system is characterized by the fact that the candidate (or list of candidates) who receives the majority of votes provided for by law is considered elected. The majority system can be of various types, depending on what kind of majority the law requires for the election of deputies - relative, absolute or qualified.
AT different countries operate different kinds majority system. Thus, in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, New Zealand, a relative majority system operates, and in Australia, an absolute majority system. Sometimes both varieties are used at the same time. For example, in France, when electing deputies of parliament in the first round of voting, an absolute majority system is used, and in the second - a relative one. The qualified majority system is less common, as it is less effective than the other two.
Under a majoritarian system, as a rule, there are direct links between the candidate and the voters. Representatives of a stronger political trend in the country win elections, which contributes to the ousting of representatives of small and medium-sized parties from parliament and other government bodies. The majoritarian system contributes to the emergence and strengthening in the countries where it is used, two- or three-party systems. The authorities created on this basis are stable, an efficient and stable government is being formed.
However, the majority system also has significant drawbacks. They are related to the fact that a significant number of votes (often about half) are not taken into account in the distribution of mandates, remain "thrown away". In addition, the picture of the real correlation of political forces in the country is distorted: the party that received the smallest number of votes can get the majority of deputy seats. The potential injustice inherent in this electoral system is even more pronounced in conjunction with the special ways of slicing constituencies, called "electoral geometry" and "electoral geography."
The essence of "electoral geometry" is that constituencies are formed in such a way that, while maintaining formal equality, the advantage of supporters of one of the parties is ensured in advance, supporters of other parties are dispersed in small numbers in different districts, and their maximum number is concentrated in 1– 2 districts. That is, the party that forms constituencies tries to do it in such a way as to “drive” the maximum number of voters voting for the rival party into one or two constituencies. She goes for it in order to "lose" them, to secure victory in other districts. Formally, the equality of districts is not violated, but in fact the results of the elections are predetermined in advance.
Legislation as a series foreign countries(USA, France, Great Britain, Japan), and Russia, proceeds from the fact that it is practically impossible to form absolutely equal constituencies, and therefore sets the maximum percentage (usually 25 or 33%) of the deviation of constituencies in terms of the number of voters from the average constituency. This is the basis of "selective geography". Its aim is to make the more conservative rural voter vote more powerful than the urban voter by creating countryside more constituencies with fewer voters than cities. As a result, with an equal number of voters living in urban and rural areas, 2–3 times more constituencies can be formed in the latter. Thus, the shortcomings of the majoritarian electoral system are further amplified.
Using proportional electoral system in the authorities, a more realistic picture is presented political life society and the balance of political power. This is facilitated by the fact that mandates in constituencies are distributed among parties in accordance with the number of votes collected by each of them. Each party participating in elections receives a number of seats in proportion to the number of votes received. The proportional system ensures representation even for relatively small parties and takes into account the votes of the electorate to the maximum extent possible. This is precisely the advantage of the proportional electoral system in comparison with the majoritarian one. Today, a significant number of countries adhere to it, such as Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Austria, Israel, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, etc.
The proportional system of each country has its own specifics, which depends on its historical experience, established political system and other circumstances. Although all proportional systems have as their goal the achievement of proportional representation, this goal is realized in different ways. According to this criterion, three types are distinguished:
systems that fully implement the principle of proportionality;
systems with insufficient proportionality;
systems that, although they achieve proportionality between the votes cast and the mandates received, however, provide for various protective barriers to the penetration of certain political forces into parliament. Candidates from a political party that has not won the percentage of votes established by law throughout the country do not get into parliament. Such a "voting meter" in Egypt, for example, is 8%, in Turkey - 10%, in Sweden - 4% in the country and 12% in the constituency, in Germany and Russia - 5%. In Israel, this barrier is one of the lowest - 1%.
Since the proportional electoral system operates in multi-member constituencies, parties nominate not individual candidates, but entire lists that include as many candidates as there are seats allocated to the constituency. In this regard, the issue of the distribution of mandates within the lists is of no small importance. There are various options here.
Under the system of "hard" lists, candidates are placed on them not arbitrarily, but depending on their "weight", their position in the party. When voting for the list as a whole, voters do not express their attitude towards individual deputies. The mandates won by the list are given to candidates in accordance with the order in which they appear on the list.
Under the system of "flexible" lists, the voter, voting for the list as a whole, at the same time indicates the candidate he prefers. Accordingly, the candidate with the largest number of preference marks receives the mandate.
Under the preferential voting system, the voter does not just vote for the list, but puts preferences on the candidates (1, 2, 3, etc.) on the ballot, thereby indicating in what sequence the election of candidates is desirable for him. Such a system is used, for example, in Italy for elections to the Chamber of Deputies.
Undoubtedly, in a multi-party system, the proportional system is more democratic than the majority system: it does not a large number unaccounted for votes of voters and more adequately reflects the real alignment of political forces in the country at the time of the elections.
However, the proportional system also has its drawbacks.
First, there are difficulties in forming a government, since multi-party coalitions include parties with different goals and objectives. It is quite difficult for them to develop a single, clear and firm program. Governments established on this basis are unstable. For example, in Italy, which uses a proportional electoral system, 52 governments have changed since 1945.
Secondly, the proportional system leads to the fact that representation in government bodies is received by political forces that enjoy support far from the whole country.
Thirdly, under a proportional system, due to the fact that voting is carried out not for specific candidates, but for parties, the direct connection between deputies and voters is weak.
Fourth, since under this system voting goes for political parties, deputies are dependent on their party leadership, which can adversely affect the discussion and adoption of important documents.
Against the backdrop of ongoing elections, most people have a question about what is a proportional electoral system? This problem has long ceased to be purely encyclopedic in nature, moving into a more practical plane. Therefore, it makes sense to characterize the designated electoral process and identify its advantages and disadvantages.
proportional distinctive characteristics
If we simply formulate the essence of this, then it can look like this: the voter votes for the image of a particular political force. And this is what distinguishes this species from the majority model. But such a definition requires deciphering. So, the main features of a proportional view are:
- No unaccounted votes.
- Direct ratio between the percentage of votes cast in an election and the percentage of seats in an elected body.
These two features determine itself. In fact, a certain section of the country or the entire state is a multi-member district in which everyone is free to choose the political force he likes. At the same time, parties, movements, associations, blocks are elected, but only those represented in the registered lists get into the body. individuals. It is worth noting that in developed democracies, in the proportional electoral system, “joint lists” and “independent lists” can be put up. In the first case, the uniting political forces go to the elections as a united front, while not specifying who exactly will represent them in the body. In the second, the proportional electoral system allows a single natural person to be nominated (this situation is typical for Belgium or Switzerland).
In general, the electoral process under this system is as follows: having come to the polling station, the voter casts his only vote for a particular party. After the votes are counted, the political force receives a number of seats in the body that corresponds to the percentage received in the elections. Further, the number of mandates is distributed according to the list registered in advance among the members of the political force. Rotation of seats occurs only in cases where, for physical or legal reasons, they are unable to exercise their powers.
From all this, we can conclude that the proportional electoral system is a special kind of election process in which a representative of the electorate does not vote for specific individuals, but for political forces. It is also worth remembering that the territory in which the elections take place is one large multi-member constituency.
Proportional electoral system: advantages and disadvantages
Like any type of electoral process, this system has both advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages is the fact that the proportional electoral system helps to take into account the preferences of the entire electorate, which decided to announce its will. AT this case it favorably differs from the majoritarian one, which takes into account only the will of the majority.
But a significant drawback of this system is that the voter is actually given the right to vote for the image of a particular political force, and not for specific person. It is worth noting that in this case, the appearance can be built on the charisma of the leader (as happened, for example, in Germany in 1933). At the same time, other individuals who have come to power may be completely unfamiliar to the electorate. Thus, a proportional electoral system contributes to the development of a "cult of personality" and, as a result, a possible transition from a democratic system to an autocracy. However, this situation is not so common due to the implementation of the rules of containment.
Consequently, a proportional electoral system is a convenient mechanism for taking into account the opinion of the whole society living in a particular part of the country or throughout the state.
The main regulator of elections is the electoral system, i.e. totality legal regulations, which determine the organization and conduct of elections, methods of summing up the results of voting and distribution of deputy mandates. The most common types of electoral systems are majoritarian (alternative) and proportional (representative). Under a majoritarian system, the candidate who receives the majority of the votes of the constituency or the entire country is considered elected. Depending on what kind of majority is required, majoritarian electoral systems are divided into absolute majority systems, in which the winner must receive more than half of the votes (minimum 50%
plus one vote), and systems of relative majority (USA, UK, Canada, France, Japan, etc.), where to win it is enough just to get ahead of other contenders. When applying the absolute majority principle, if no candidate receives more than half of the votes, a second round of elections is held. Only the two candidates who received the largest number of votes participate in it.
The majority system has its advantages and disadvantages. The first ones include:
The formation of a stable government by the winning party with a majority in parliament;
The presence of strong ties between voters and deputies that develop during the election campaign. Since the deputies are directly elected by the citizens of a certain constituency and usually count on their re-election, they are more guided by their electorate, its problems and interests.
Significant disadvantages of the majoritarian electoral system are:
It does not give an adequate idea of the alignment of political forces in the country in parliament, since not all political parties are represented in it. This does not ensure the implementation of the principle of universality. suffrage;
It distorts the real picture of the preferences and will of voters, since it is possible that a party that received fewer votes in elections than its rivals has the majority of seats in parliament;
By restricting access to the deputy corps of representatives of minorities, including small parties, the majoritarian system can weaken the legitimacy of power and cause the authorities to distrust the political system.
The most common is the proportional electoral system. For example, it is used in 10 of the 12 EU countries (with the exception of England and France), is used in most countries of Latin America. Its essence lies in the distribution of mandates in proportion to the votes received by parties or electoral coalitions in elections. Elections held under this system are strictly party-based. Voters do not vote for a particular candidate, but for a party list, and therefore for a program of a particular party. The distribution of mandates presupposes the determination of an electoral quota, i.e. the number of votes required to elect one deputy. It is installed as follows: total number votes cast in the given constituency (country) is divided by the number of seats in parliament. The seats are distributed among the parties by dividing the votes received by them by the quota.
The advantages of a proportional electoral system include:
Ensuring a more adequate representation of political forces at the parliamentary level. As a result, it is possible to make legislative and administrative decisions that take into account the interests of individual social and political groups to a greater extent;
Stimulation of the development of political pluralism, multi-party system.
The use of a proportional electoral system also has disadvantages:
The connection between voters and parliamentarians is weakening, since voting is not for specific individuals, but for political parties;
Lists of candidates for deputies are most often compiled by the party apparatus, which makes it possible to put pressure on candidates;
The proportional system leads to the representation in parliament of various political forces, which creates difficulties in the formation of the government. The absence of a dominant party makes inevitable multi-party coalitions based on compromise between parties with different agendas. Because it is fragile, coalitions often fall apart as the situation changes. The result is permanent governmental instability.
To overcome the shortcomings of the proportional system, there are various ways. One of them is "protective barriers" or percentage clauses that establish the minimum number of votes necessary to obtain deputy mandates. It is usually between two (Denmark) and five (Germany) percent of all votes cast. Parties that did not score necessary minimum votes, do not receive a single mandate. To weaken the influence of the party apparatus on the compilation of party lists, there is a practice of personal preferences (from Latin - preferences), when a voter, casting a vote for a party list, marks a specific person who prefers. This is taken into account in the final distribution of mandates. Panashing is also used when a voter is allowed to vote for candidates from different party lists.
To maximize the advantages and mitigate the shortcomings of both electoral systems, mixed systems. They combine elements of the majority and proportional systems. So, in Germany, one half of the Bundestag deputies is elected by the majority system of relative majority, the second half - by the proportional system.
Loading...