Social representations

countries (except Guyana), the first-past-the-post system elects the members of parliament, a majority of whom nominate the prime minister. In the Latin Caribbean and Guyana the electoral formula is more complicated, often including proportional representation and either an indirectly or directly elected president. Caribbean electoral systems reflect the influence of the former colonial powers and national circumstances such as the racial composition of the population. Elections and electoral systems

Publicity and Electioneering Activities It is important that a candidate becomes well known in the area they are hoping to represent and to this end they will often undertake a great deal of publicity work, such as leafleting houses, displaying posters, and canvassing door-to-door for votes. Publicity costs money and so the more wealthy parties will have an advantage. In addition, during a general election you will often see party political broadcasts for the main parties outlining their policies

of Sweden. The assembly contains 349 members who are chosen by direct elections based on suffrage for all Swedish citizens aged 18 or over who are residents of Sweden. Consequently, general elections to the Riksdag are based on proportional representation for a fixed term of four years. The state of Sweden is divided into constituencies from which seats are distributed between political parties. The numbers of seats assigned to parties corresponds to

An Argument for Single Transferable Vote One of the main functions of elections is to ensure representation. Yet, it is arguable that most electoral systems do not return proportional results and therefore do not ensure proper representation. There are numerous electoral systems that are used all over the world and every country seems to have adopted a particular system that works well for them, but may not for others. For much of the BC Legislative Assembly’s history, the First Past the Post (FPTP)

voters from selecting such candidates. It is a system which generally makes it difficult for smaller parties to gain influence, and which rarely provides accurate representation to the voters. A winner-take-all system is, as the name suggests, one where the winner (the majority vote in this case) is the only one selected for representation. The margin of victory does not matter; a 45 percent majority is counted the same a 60

disproportionate, much of the population goes unrepresented, and it creates false majority governments that govern with absolute power. It should be abolished, and replaced with a system called Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP). MMP is a proportional representation system used in many countries such as Germany, New Zealand, and Scotland. Under MMP, a voter has two votes on election day. The first vote works just like the current system, so that it goes to electing an MP to represent the riding. The other

in strategic voting, voters avoid small parties for the fear of not ‘wasting’ their votes, because of the high threshold in this plurality system. Adjacently, in that context, parties also have an incentive to merge to pass high thresholds of representation. Regardless, the positive aspects of plurality include its simplicity, efficiency along its ability to produce governments that need not depend on the support of other parties which are all facts that the Conservatives can use to lobby against

list of the candidates, those of which were not elected within a riding, that they would like to appoint to enter parliament. Not only is the riding system and local representation maintained, but MMP also introduces a system where proportionality and equal representation also takes precedence (“Mixed Member Proportional Representation Explained”). It should be noted that certain parts of Canada have attempted to usher in electoral reform in the past. Alas, when various types of reform, including mixed

countries around the world that use the first past the post voting system including; The United States, Canada, India, Bangladesh and many others. Most European countries do not use the FPTP system and have instead opted for the system of proportional representation, which means that the distribution of seats in their parliaments directly correlates with the percentage of the vote that each political party receives. This essay will look at the political consequences of the first past the post system in the

Democratization and Afghanistan: Changes Needed to Stabilize Afghan Democracy Executive Summary: In 2001, the Bonn agreement laid out the framework for a democracy in Afghanistan, however, the transition to democracy has been met with many challenges. The establishment of a bicameral legislature, popularly elected president, and the restoration of civil liberties showed hope for democratization, but the institutions established in the country fail to provide the stability needed for Afghanistan to