are divided into subset of electoral system for the country. Figure 2, is a representation of various types of electoral system family in the top part while the bottom shows the electoral system. For example, United States has a majority/plurality than is a plurality which is also called “First-pass-the-post” while Germany has a proportional representation than is a mixed member system. These are just some of the electoral system examples. This could be interesting to see what is going on with elections if electoral system plays a factor in the outcome of voter turnout.
Figure 2 shows a diagram of the different electoral families and their subset of the electoral families.
Gallagher and Mitchell (2005) explain some countries electoral system itself can be a major political issue. Gallagher and Mitchell wrote, “They (electoral system) are a crucial link in the chain connecting the preferences of citizens to the policy choices made by the government.” (Gallagher and Mitchell: 2005). They are explaining electoral system plays a certain role in the government therefore could have an input on voter turnout. This makes their research an interesting topic to focus on to study further to see if there is a relationship between turnout and electoral system. Depending on the electoral system, may make potential voters to believe their vote is not as important as other’s voter and will restrain them from going to the poll booth (Jackman, 1987). Various electoral system could have lower
According to Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, this was the original structure of the Electoral College. Each state was given a certain number of electors based on the number of state senators, which was always 2, as well as the number of U.S. representatives, which varied by decades based on the states population.
certain number of electors based on population size. The results in a state determine which
In June of 1804 the states had ratified the Twelfth Amendment which enacted the Electoral College in time for the 1804 election. When election time comes, Americans vote for the President and Vice President who are chosen by Presidential electors, who as a whole are known as the Electoral College. As a decision was needed for a method of choosing candidates, the Constitutional Convention of 1787 contemplated many different ways of electing the President, but toward the end of the proposals and ideas the matter had to be taken to the Committee of Eleven on Postponed Matters which is the committee who conceived the original Electoral College. In recent years, much debate has been stirring regarding whether or not the Electoral College has a place within this country's elections. For many states this method of tallying and casting votes is great because every state receives a minimum of three electoral votes considering each state has two senators and at least one representative (Lewis). However, these minimum electoral votes make the distribution of electoral college votes uneven throughout the fifty states, making each American citizen's vote count less or much more which is cause for change. If the information on these weighted votes is analyzed it can be concluded that states with a population similar to Wyoming has one “elector” for every 177, 556 persons while Texas has one “elector” for every 715,499 persons. While the Electoral College has worked for generations, there are some negative factors that give cause to abolish this practice, such that are; faithless electors, the winner take all system, and finally, safe and swing states.
I agree with that the Electoral College System should be done with. My reasoning for this is in any presidential election, the Electoral College is above the votes of the people of the United States of America. All that a candidate needs when they run for an election is 270 out of the 538 votes in the Electoral College to win the presidency. The Electoral College System over runs the election. It pushes aside the votes of the people and consequently decides who is going to be president for themselves. They say that the American people have a choice in who becomes their president, but it only takes 270 out of 538 of the Electoral College to choose the next president of the United States of America. If the Electoral College chooses who is going to be the next president then what is the reason for the American people to vote? There is
The American Electoral College is the most confusing part of the American government. In addition, Kenneth Davis, author of Don’t Know Much About History, noted, “Grown men turn weak and stammer when asked who makes up the Electoral College.” However, there will be an effort to clear this enigma up for those who “turn weak and stammer” (2011, p. 653). America’s election system is important because their citizens need to know what they are doing on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The Electoral College has an interesting structure, procedure, and history, while also serving America well.
The Electoral College was established with the best of intentions of representing the American people; however, over time, this antiquated system has failed the American people. The people of the United States deserve better as the Electoral College is no longer a representation of the nation’s voices and concerns. Instead, the political machine has corrupted this deep-rooted system with each modification. The way the people of the United States elect the President and Vice President, requires an update for this timeworn democratic process.
It is difficult to completely understand and in a way appreciate what the Electoral College is if you don’t understand it. Therefore, this paper will go in depth as to how the voting process works in the United States, with a main focus on the Electoral College. I will start by talking about the background, what challenges and problems it was trying to solve, how it came to be and who came up with such idea. Secondly, I would talk about the advantages the Electoral College possesses, such as it keeps small states as viable participants, it maintains division of power and how it’s beneficial to the candidates and their campaign. But as with everything, there are also some disadvantages that come with such, example, ignoring the will of the
It’s interesting to notice that in those four disputed elections of 1800, 1824, 1876 and 1960, the winner of the popular vote didn’t become President because they weren’t the winners of the Electoral College votes. The first two instances were mainly due to an unorganized system because of the early establishment. However, there is a recurring pattern in the later elections.
The intention for the design of Electoral College appeared to choose a person that demonstrates both popular support and a broad distribution of support. This goal becomes an achievement over the past decades. Some critics think that voting power of smaller states gets overrepresented. They fail to acknowledge the democratic will of all states as equal despite their low populations. Presidential campaigns disperse
Since Electoral system can change outcome of the election, it often misrepresent the will of citizens. In electoral system, candidate with most
The results of recent elections in Britain raised many significant questions about current political situation in the country, particularly concerning electoral system. Therefore the problem of “crisis” in democracy of Britain was the subject of wide speculation among analysts and political scientists over last years. In addition it is widely recognized that the traditional electoral system in the UK-first past the post- is the main cause of that crisis and should be replaced as part of a plan to reconstitute the democratic culture (Kelly 2008). By longstanding critics of the system, opponents advocate the use of proportional representation (PR) for selecting MPs. Due to this problem it is going to be a referendum on changing the electoral
Do you know how our country’s Presidential election system (The Electoral College) works? For many years I didn’t know much about the Electoral College, except that they were the system that elected the president. So join me as we discover the aspects of the Electoral College. Our founding fathers created a special election system called the Electoral College to elect the Presidents of America. The Electoral College’s Function, the reasoning behind its creation, its mathematics, and how those mathematics impact campaigns are extremely fascinating.
However, more recently different voting systems have been used by devolved powers throughout the U.K – like the Scottish parliament -- as well as for other votes such as the European Parliament. (Ministry of Justice, 2008, pp. 24-25) These different voting systems are based on proportional representation, a term which characterises various types of electoral system, but share one main idea – the proportion of votes received correlates directly with the amount of seats a party wins. As democracy has become more widespread, other countries within Europe have naturally developed different electoral systems. Particularly, France is one of the few other countries in Europe who practice a very similar type of electoral system as the United Kingdom. The majority of countries in Europe, such as Germany, favour systems with an element of proportional representation.
Elections and electoral systems aim at converting the popular will expressed as votes into choices between candidates of political parties for political offices in the executive and legislature. The electoral system therefore reflects itself in the party system and the structure of governmental representation. This association between elections, parties and government takes different forms. Ideal electoral systems should comprise of competition, effective government, and fair representation along with free and fair voting.
It is not merely that different voting systems count votes differently, but that different voting-system arrangements alter the incentives that voters and parties face to do certain things: to vote for one party over another, to try to appeal to one group of voters over another, and so on (Pilon 12)6.