Chapter 10
Elections
Elections
 Allows the mass of people to have a say in the
election of leaders (democracy in particular)
 Allows the state to mobilize the people and build
support for the state by participating in the process
of government
Elections
 Way to build support
 Can provide referendums (way for people to choose
directly whether a policy proposal should pass or not -- people decide policy instead of leaders)
Electoral Systems


1.
2.
A legal system for making voting and choosing
elected officials
Two types of electoral systems:
Single-Member-District Plurality System (SMDP)
Proporational Representation System (PR)
SMDP
 State divided into districts usually equal in population
 One representative is elected from each district to be
a member of the state’s legislative body
 Whoever gets a plurality (ie, largest number) of the
votes wins the seat
 A single member is elected just as name indicates
SMDP
 United States and Canada use modified versions of
this
 These systems tend to be limited to Great Britain and
her former colonies
PR System
 Used by most states
 The representation of political parties in
parliament/legislative body is in proportion to the
votes they win
 If Party A wins 25% of votes, then A gets 25% of seats
in the legislative body
Electoral Participation
 Varies wildly from state to state
 Some states mandate that electoral participation is
required (example: Austria)
 In United States, voter turnout is higher during
Presidential election (2004—about 60%)
Paradox of Voting
 Idea that for a rational and self-interested voter, the
costs of voting will often exceed the expected
benefits.