AS Government and Politics REVISION Paper 1 ELECTIONS

Introduction UK’s claim to be a democracy is largely based on elections o Universal suffrage o OPOV o Secret ballot o Competition between parties and candidates Main link between government and people Most important form of popular participation Since 2000 regulated by Electoral Commission Main elections – general, local, devolved assemblies, Europe

Functions of elections Form governments o Principal way of forming governments – serve to transfer power. Results of elections are usually clear (1974, 2010) o BUT PR can lead to coalitions where power stems from political negotiations Ensuring representation o Vital channel of communication between government and people. Government - accountable - direct link = politician and constituencies -general = government and public opinion o BUT absence of recall elections weakens the link o How do politicians represent their electors?

Upholding legitimacy o Legitimacy important because provides stability. Citizens – respect government and obey laws o Ritual in which electors ‘consent’ to government BUT o Declining turnout questions ‘consent’ o Partisan dealignment = wider dissatisfaction with political system

Theories of representation Trusteeship (or Burkean view) o Traditional approach – trustees rather than delegates o Edmund Burke’s quote! (“Your representative owes you…”) o BUT o Produces a gap between citizens and representatives o Largely out of date. Disciplined party system since late 19 th century

Doctrine of the mandate o Most influential theory in modern politics. o Politicians serve their party rather than constituency. Electorate votes for party rather than candidate o In winning an election, a party gains a popular mandate that authorises it to carry out the policies on which it fought the election. These are the policies contained in the manifesto BUT o Questionable model of voting behaviour o Blunt weapon. Even strong party supporters don’t agree with all aspects of manifesto o Governments are not bound by their manifesto o Growth of ‘personal mandate’ for the PM

Descriptive representation o The idea that representatives should typify the group they claim to represent - a microcosm. Allows them to identify with their interests o Poses significant problem for Westminster representation – women, working-class, ethnic, disability, youth etc. BUT o If representatives only advance the interests of particular groups what about the common good? o Should the weaknesses of society be accurately represented - the apathetic, the poorly educated? o Reconciled with electoral choice? Equal opportunity

Voting systems Five voting systems in UK – each have different political outcomes. o FPTPHofC, local government in England and Wales o AMSScottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Gt London o STVN.Ireland Assembly, local government in Scot and N. Ireland o Regional Party ListEuropean Parliament o SVLondon mayoral elections Two broad categories – o Majoritarian – larger parties typically win a higher proportion of seats o Proportional – more equal relationship between seats won and votes gained

FPTP Most important – Westminster elections Features – o Constituencies – roughly equal, return one member o OPOV Winning candidate – simple majority Implications o Disproportionality o Systematic biases o Two-party system

Disproportionality o Fails to accurately link the proportion of votes won by parties and the proportion of seats gained. E.g and 1974 general elections where the party of government secured fewer votes than the opposition Systematic biases o Some parties do well, whilst others suffer – o Large parties benefit because they are more likely to secure most votes in a constituency o Parties where support is geographically concentrated and not spread thinly over a larger area o Two-party system o Tendency for two-party domination – but growth of multi- party elections? ‘Safe’ seats and ‘wasted votes’

Single-party government o Usually produces single-party, stable governments, with the other major party in ‘opposition’ o Parliamentary majority without a majority of the popular vote. o 1974 and 2010 general elections Landslide effect o Tends to produce a ‘winner’s bonus’ – small shifts in votes can lead to dramatic changes in seats. o E.g Conservative majority of 44 – 1983 Conservative majority of 143 even though their share of the vote actually fell by 0.5%

Proportional systems Additional Member System (AMS) – second most significant o Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Gt London Assembly o ‘mixed’ – constituency (FPTP) and party list = two votes o Party list acts to ‘top up’ the constituency vote using the D’Hondt method to achieve the most proportional outcome Advantages – o Balances constituency and fairness o Proportional but still possibility of single-party govt. Disadvantages – o Confusion from two types of representative o Larger constituencies undermines link

Single Transferable Vote (STV) o N.Ire – Assembly, Euro Parl and local govt; Scotland local govt. o Multi-member constituencies o Voters rank candidates o Successful candidates must achieve quota (Droop formula) o First preference counted first – second preference if quota achieved Advantages o Highly proportional o Constituents can choose who to take a grievance to Disadvantages o Degree of proportionality can vary o Unlikely to produce strong and stable government o Multi-member constituencies can encourage competition within the same party

Regional party list o European Parliament (except Northern Ireland) o Large multimember constituencies (UK – 12 regions each returning members) o Electors vote for parties (closed list) not candidates o Parties are allocated seats in direct proportion to votes cast Advantages o A ‘pure’ form of PR – fair to all parties o Increases chances of minority groups being elected (if featured on party list) Disadvantages o Weak and unstable government (lots of small parties) o Weakens link between representative and constituencies o Parties become more powerful

Supplementary vote (SV) o London mayor o Single, single-member constituency o Electors have two votes – first preference and supplementary o Winning candidate must gain 50% minimum o Votes counted after first preference. Top two stay in and votes redistributed from other candidates Advantages o Fewer ‘wasted’ votes than FPTP o Broader range of opinions influence the outcome o Disadvantages o Influence of preferences from extreme or minority parties o Winner may actually be the least unpopular candidate

Greater proportionality Regional party list, AMS and STV all deliver high and reliable levels of proportionality. Biases of FPTP are removed E.g Scottish Parliament election Labour won over half the constituency seats with 32% of the vote. This was ‘corrected’ by the distribution of the party-list which put Labour in second place behind the SNP. Multiparty systems Other voting systems broaden the basis of representation and creates a multiparty system E.g – UKIP gained 950,000 votes in 2010 but no MPs BUT they have 12 Euro MPs Also – Green Party (note Caroline Lucas – Brighton)

Coalition or minority government More proportional voting systems do increase the likelihood of coalitions. Evident in the UK – Scottish Parliament – Lab/Lib coalition SNP minority government Consensus building Coalition building necessitates a different style of policy making and adoption of policies can be a formal coalition or informal measure by measure support Policy cannot be driven through

Debating the electoral system Background 1983 General Election – The Alliance (SDP and Liberals) gained 25% of vote but 3.5% of seats… increasing discussion about FPTP 1990s Labour becomes ‘converted’ – why? Fear of continuing failure under FPTP Anticipation of coalition with Lib Dems (change of voting system would be a necessary price) Labour agreed that the new devolved bodies should use a variety of different voting systems Established an Independent Commission to develop an alternative to FPTP for Westminster elections. Headed by Roy Jenkins Jenkins Report recommended AV Plus in 1998

1997 Labour Manifesto promised a referendum on commission’s recommendations… but, given Labour’s majority under FPTP, the proposal was quietly forgotten! 2010 General Election – Liberals made a commitment to a referendum on the voting system a condition of the Coalition Agreement (decision to opt for AV was a compromise that neither side seem happy with) What is the best voting system? ( No such thing as the ‘best’!) Each voting system achieves different things. Key question is about the principles that underpin ‘good’ government – representative government or effective government? Bias for consensus and compromise or conviction and strength?

Electoral reform FOR Electoral fairness o All votes are of equal value All votes counted o Fewer votes are ‘wasted’… strengthen engagement Majority governments o Prevent landslides on minority of votes Accountable government o Coalitions will weaken an all powerful executive Consensus political culture o Partnership over ‘yaa-boo’ politics AGAINST Clear electoral choice o Meaningful and understood Constituency representation o Strong and reliable link Mandate democracy o Can only operate with single- party governments Strong government o Only possible under FPTP Stable government o In contrast to coalitions