Elections and Public Policy

Electoral systems  Electoral systems are the rules that decide how votes are cast  Some countries use a first-past-the-post system in which their constituencies are divided into single-member districts where candidates compete for a single representative’s seat  This system is also called a plurality system, or a winner take all system  This is the case because a winner does not need a majority to win, but simply must get more cotes than anyone else

Electoral systems  Many countries also use a proportional representation system  These systems normally have multi-member districts, meaning there are multiple legislative seats in each district  The percentage of votes cast for each party determine the amount of seats that party receives in the legislature  Some countries also use a mixed system that combines first-past-the- post and proportional systems  A portion of the legislature is determined by single member districts while another portion is determined by proportional voting

Types of Elections  Election of public officals  This type of election is where members of the government are elected into office  Referendum  These are public votes on particular policy issues  Plebiscite  This is a direct vote by all members of an electorate on an important public question such as a change in the constitution  Initiative  An initiative is a vote on policy initiated by the people

Public Policy  Common policy issues include:  Economic performance  Economic performance is measured in a variety of ways  Gross Domestic Produce (GDP)- This is all the goods and services by produced by a country’s economy in a given year within the nations borders  Gross National Product (GNP)- This takes GDP and adds all goods and services created by a country outside of the countries borders  GDP Per Capita- This is GDP divided across the population of a country  GNP Per Capita- This is GNP divided across the population of a country  Purchasing Power Parity- This uses GNP but takes into consideration what people can buy using their income in the local economy

Public Policy  Social Welfare-  Some measures of social welfare are literacy rates, distribution of income, life expectancy, and education levels  The Gini index measures the amount of economic inequality in a society.  The Gini index works on a scale of means perfect equality and 100 means complete inequality   The Human Development Index (HDI) measures the well-being of a country’s people by factoring in adult literacy, life expectancy, and educational enrollment, as well as GDP.   The Environmental Performance Index ranks how well countries perform on high-priority environmental issues in two broad policy areas: protection of human health from environmental harm and protection of ecosystems   The Corruptions Perceptions Index scores countries on how corrupt their public sectors are seen to be 

Public Policy  Civil liberties, political rights, and political freedom  Political rights refer to promotion of equality  Civil liberties refer to promotion of freedom  Freedom House studies and ranks countries on a scale of 1-7  A score of 1 is extremely free and a score of 7 is extremely not free   Environment