4. A-Level Politics - Voting Systems

First Past the Post is a ​ (a)   system. It is used in ​ (b)   elections and in local elections in England and ​ (c)   .

There is one seat per ​ (d)   Voters cast one vote for the ​ (e)   of their choice. The winner, with the largest number of votes, is elected.

• majoritarian
• general
• Wales
• candidate
• constituency/ward.
• proportional
• European
• Scotland
• region/nation
• party

Answer explanation

Remember that you vote for the candidate, not the party.

Elections for MPs to the House of Commons are called general elections.

Organize these options into whether they are advantages or disadvantages of First Past the Post as a system

Groups:

(a) Advantage

,

(b) Disadvantage

• Produces more stable governments with little need for coalitions

• Proportion of MP’s elected for a party is not proportional to votes cast

• Many seats are safe seats where many voters may feel their votes are ‘wasted’.

• Smaller parties tend to go unrepresented

• A government can gain a large majority of seats with a minority of votes

• Tends to produce a majority for the party that gains most seats

• Close tie between MP and constituency

The supplementary vote (SV) is a ​ (a)   system. It is used for electing ​ (b)   . It is used for elections where there is only one person to be elected. Voters ​ (c)   . If a candidate receives a majority of first choices then he/she is elected. If not, then ​ (d)   are eliminated and second choice votes redistributed to remaining candidates.

• majoritarian
• proportional
• Mayor of London & regional metro mayors
• Scottish First Minister and MSPs
• indicate first and second choice candidates
• rank candidates in order of preference
• all candidates apart from top two
• the lowest ranked candidate

Organize these options into whether they are advantages or disadvantages of the supplementary vote

Groups:

(a) Advantages

,

(b) Disadvantages

• Stops candidates who are unpopular with the majority of voters

• Some people effectively get a second vote

• Voters can vote for smaller parties knowing they have a second option

• Not necessarily going to produce a more proportional result if used across the country

The single transferable vote (STV) is a ​ (a)   system. Constituencies ​ (b)   . Voters ​ (c)   . Counting votes in this system is a complex process whereby candidates are elected once they have received a ​ (d)   of votes. Votes are re-distributed from candidates with too few votes to other candidates until all seats have been filled. This system is currently used in elections for the ​ (e)   local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Abroad it is used in Australia (Senate) and NZ (local elections) and Ireland multi-member for general and local elections.

• proportional
• majoritarian
• are typically 3-5 seats
• have only one seat
• number candidates in order of preference
• pick their preferred candidate
• quota
• majority
• Northern Irish Assembly
• Scottish Parliament

Organize these options into whether they are advantages or disadvantages of the single transferrable vote (STV) as a system

Groups:

(a) Advantages

,

(b) Disadvantages

• Once candidate over the quota all other votes for them are ‘wasted’

• Produces more proportional results

• Constituencies are large so link between representatives and voters less close

• Could be seen as voting more than once - if your first choice has met the quota

• No need for tactical voting

• Complex system to administer

The additional member system (AMS) is a ​ (a)   system. It is used to elect members of the ​ (b)   , the Welsh Parliament (Senedd) and the Greater London Assembly. In this system voters vote twice - first for a ​ (c)   as they would in FPTP, they then also vote for a party within a region using​ (d)   . The second set of votes for the parties are then used to assess how a number of remaining ‘top up’ seats are allocated to ensure that each party ends up with seats in proportion to the votes they have received.

• hybrid
• proportional
• Scottish Parliament
• Northern Ireland Assembly
• candidate
• party
• proportional representation
• supplementary vote

Organize these options into whether they are advantages or disadvantages of the additional member system (AMS)

Groups:

(a) Advantages

,

(b) Disadvantages

• Top up seats give smaller a parties a better chance of being elected

• Tends to produce a legislature where seats held by parties are in proportion to votes cast

• Two classes of representative one elected by name the other off a closed list

• Increased chance of ‘extremist’ parties being elected

• Most of those elected are still linked to a constituency

• Candidates elected in top up seats are not linked to a particular constituency

• More likelihood of coalition governments

The alternate vote (AV) is a ​ (a)   system. Whilst not used in the UK elections ​ (b)   . Voter are asked to ​ (c)   . For a candidate to win a seat they must secure ​ (d)   of the overall votes (therefore having a majority). If no candidate has a majority of first choices the ​ (e)   is eliminated and their votes distributed to their second choice and so on.

• majoritarian
• hybrid
• rank candidates in order of preference
• select a first and second choice
• it is used in Parliament to elect chairs of commit
• it is used within European elections
• last placed candidate
• 50% or more
• the most

Organize these options into whether they are advantages or disadvantages of the alternate vote (AV)

Groups:

(a) Advantages

,

(b) Disadvantages

• Allows people to vote for their favourite party without having to resort to tactical voting

• Keeps direct link between those elected and electors (i.e MP and constituent)

• Still creates unproportional results – based on first choices anyway

• Stops extremist parties from gaining representation

• Some voters effectively vote twice – others don’t

• Winner has more than 50% of support