Additional Member System Electoral Systems Additional Member System

We are learning to… Explain the electoral system known as AMS Explain the advantages and disadvantages of AMS Summarise the impact of AMS on the governance of Scotland

How are MSPs elected? Elections for the Scottish Parliament use a proportional representation voting system known as: The Additional Member System (AMS) Proportional Representation systems provide a more direct link between the votes received and parliamentary seats won.

How does AMS work? This is a mixed electoral system – every voter casts TWO votes.

Constituency Vote Vote one elects the 73 CONSTITUENCY MSPs. Winner is calculated using the First Past the Post method = Person with the most votes becomes the MSP for that area.

Regional Vote Vote 2 elects the Regional MSPs. 8 regions = 7 MSPs per region (56 total). Uses a system known as PARTY LIST. Vote for the PARTY not the person.

The Party List Before each election, every political party will draw up a “Party List”. This will contain the people they wish to have represent them, as MSPs in the Scottish Parliament. Once the votes for each party have been calculated, each party will be made aware of the seats they have won.

Arguments for AMS The second ballot paper makes sure that the result of the election is fairer, if a party gets 20% of the votes in this ballot it will receive 20% of the seats. Every vote is important; all votes count because of the 2nd ballot. Many other countries use forms of PR (Germany, New Zealand). Small parties get better representation; there are currently 6 Green MSPs in the Scottish Parliament.

Arguments against AMS Small parties, or even individuals, can hold the balance of power which gives them a lot of influence. So people say too much influence. AMS tends to produce coalition governments, which would have to involve compromise. For example, in 2003 Labour/Lib Dem coalition. Many people find the system extremely confusing because of the two different types of ballot papers. There are two types of MSPs - constituency MSPs and regional MSPs - which can lead to conflict. Regional MSPs do not have direct links with their constituents; they represent very large areas and are often unknown to people as they are not directly chosen by the people.

Strengths of the AMS Electoral System Maintains representative – constituency link for the majority of representatives (73 constituency MSPs from 129). 2. Encourages participation – all second votes count. 3. Roughly proportional e.g. SNP most popular party with 32.9% of the vote won 47 seats (36.4% of all seats). Labour came second 32.9% of vote returned 46 MSPs (or 35.6% of all MSPs). 4. Smaller parties e.g. Green Party (6 MSPs) get fairer representation. Weaknesses of the AMS Electoral System Two types of representatives – constituency and list. Not always seen as equal. May confuse constituents. Will almost certainly result in coalition government (Labour and Lib Dems. 1999-2007) or minority government (SNP 2007-2011). Again likelihood of compromise politics. Smaller parties gain disproportionate influence. Liberal Democrats came fourth in 1999 and 2003 but were coalition with Labour.

The Party List and the AMS Voting System Questions Describe, using examples from recent elections, the way in which the Additional Member System (AMS) works. Give three strengths of AMS. Provide at least two statistical examples to improve your answer. Give three weaknesses of the AMS. Provide at least two statistical examples to improve your answer.