Electoral Systems

True of false:

Voting at elections is the only form of political participation most people engage in.

• True

• False

Elections are a key feature of what type of democracy?

• Direct

• Representative

Match the following descriptions to the type of electoral system they refer to.

• Proportional

• To win a seat, a candidate with one more vote than any other candidate wins.

• Majoritarian

• A system that attempts to allocate seats proportionately to the votes cast.

• Plurality

• To win a seat, the candidate must win an absolute majority of the votes cast.

• Hybrid

• A system that mixes two different electoral systems togther.

Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the FPTP electoral system:

Groups:

(a) Strengths

,

(b) Weaknesses

• It makes it difficult for parties whose support is widely dispersed.

• It is simple and voters understand what they're voting for.

• It ensures representatives are closely bound to their constituency.

• It favours the large parties and prevents serious challenges from smaller parties.

• It makes it harder for small extremist parties to gain representation.

• It tends to produce an outright winner and helps ensure a strong and stable government.

• The winner's bonus exaggerates the level of support enjoyed by the largest party.

• It gives an advantage to parties that have concentrated support in certain regions.

In which constituency in 2024 did Terry Jermy win the seat despite receiving only 26.7% of the vote?

Hint - He defeated Liz Truss to win the seat.

First Past the Post (FPTP) is criticised because it creates ​ (a)   , which means that one party is almost certainly going to win it. In 2019, it was estimated that ​ (b)   out of 650 constituencies were uncompetitive. This means that parties pay ​ (c)   attention to them at election time, and the MP will be less ​ (d)   for their actions.

• safe seats
• 316
• less
• accountable
• marginal
• 185
• legitimate
• more
• Mr McKenzie

In which type of election will voters receive two separate ballot papers - one asking them to vote for an individual candidate, and one asking them to vote for a party?

• FPTP

• SV

• STV

• AMS

• AV

• SV

• AMS

• STV

• FPTP

Which region of the UK uses STV to elect its legislature?

Which of the following is a weakness of the AMS electoral system?

• It produces broadly proportional outcomes.

• It gives voters more choice.

• It helps smaller parties that cannot win constituency contests.

• It creates two classes of representatives - constituency and list members.