1. January 26, 2010

2.  In representative democracies, their purpose is to allow voters to express their political preferences  Elections provide an opportunity for citizens to render a verdict on the past performance of their government  Elections have implications for who governs and what policies a government will pursue.

3.  Millions of people vote. Why?  Do voters have the capacity to cast an “informed decision”? While many individuals do not appear to be sufficiently informed, they appear collectively to make sensible decisions? Why?  What choices do voters have? Many or few? Meaningful or not? Does it matter?  Why do parties gain or lose support?  Are there “better” ways to elect a government?  Are there “better” ways to have an influence?

4.  Parties  Candidates  Ballot measures

5.  Executive chosen by parliament which appoints not only the PM but the entire cabinet  Unicameral vs. bicameral  Upper house is generally less powerful and not usually elected.  New elections can be called at short notice  Party leaders are in parliament and generally known

6.  President is directly elected  President appoints the cabinet  Fixed terms

7.  Candidates play a more important role in Presidential systems  Conflict over policy is more likely to arise in Presidential systems because presidents must share power with the legislature.

8.  Plurality (or first past the post)  Single member (usually)  Winner take all systems; seat awarded to candidate who receives the most votes  UK, US, Canada, India  Proportional Representation (PR) Systems  Multi-member  Use of Party Lists (ie. Netherlands)  Single Transferable Vote (Ireland)  Mixed Systems  Plurality and PR used to elect candidates in the same chamber  Corrective vs. Non-corrective

13. See IDEA website for detailsIDEA website

14.  Plurality systems facilitate two party competition  Plurality systems often create “manufactured” majorities  PR is associated with multi-party systems.  Rules thus have an influence on how much choice voters have.

15. New Zealand Elections (1938-1996) National Labour Other YearVoteSeatsDifferenceVoteSeatsDifference Vote Seats 19384031-9566610 4 3 194343 048568 9 1 194648 051532 1 0 1949525864743-4 1 0 1951546394638-8 0 0 195444561244 0 12 0 19574449548513 8 0 196048581043 0 9 0 19634756944 0 9 0 19664452842 0 14 6 19694552744451 11 3 19724235-7486012 10 5 19754758114034-6 13 8 1978405414 40422 20 4 1981394910 39456 22 5 198436393 435916 21 2 19874441-3485911 8 0 19904869213530-5 17 1 1993355116354510 30 4 199634373 28313 38 33

16.  Plurality systems are assumed to promote greater accountability because it is easier for voters to identify who to blame/reward.  PR systems often produce coalition governments (shared power  Coalition governments may make it more difficult for voters to figure out who is to blame.