Representation, Elections and
Voting
Chapter 12
• Do you think elections are important? Why,
why not?
• What do elections mean to you?
• Why do you think we need to elect someone
to represent us?
• Does democracy mean elections?
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Representation
• Should representation be restricted to those who have the
competence, education and time to think about politics
and act on behalf of others?
• Does representative government mean that they know
better than the people?
• Does it mean that representatives should do whatever their
voters demand or should they lead public opinion?
• Political equality?
– The right to vote and the right to stand for election.
– One person, one vote.
– Universal suffrage (Genel oy hakki)
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Theories of Representation
• Trustee model:
– Trustee: A person who is formally responsible fro
another person’s property or affairs. (Mütevelli or
vasi)
– Trustee is believed to have mature judgment and act
with an enlightened conscience.
– According to the trustee model, politicians are
representatives insofar as they are educated, because
educated people are believed to be altruistic, socially
responsible and make correct moral judgments.
– Criticism is that being educated does not necessarily
mean making the best decisions for the people.
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Delegate Model
• Delegate:
– A person who is chosen to act for another on the
basis of clear guidance. (Delege)
– What a delegate would say and how he/she would
act is clearly defined.
– Politicians as delegates do only act in accordance
with their voters’ demands. Their ideas only
reflect the views of their voters.
– Criticism is the limited or no leadership by
politicians.
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Mandate Model
• Mandate: Instruction or command from a higher
body that demands compliance. (Manda veya
vekalet)
– The idea is that the political party gains a popular
mandate that authorizes it to carry out its party
programme.
– Voters select political parties and party programmes
rather than representatives.
– Politicians serve the public as long as they remain
loyal to its party programme/policies.
– Criticism is that rigid and ideology-driven party
programmes might limit government policies.
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Resemblance Model
• This model is based on the idea that the representative
government should resemble the larger society. (A
microcosm of society)
• This model suggests that only people who come from a
particular group can represent the interests of that
particular group. (Only a worker can represent the
working class, only a woman can represent women or
only a farmer can represent farmers)
• Criticism of this model is that its narrow definition of
representation results in social divisions.
• Broader public interests vs. group interests.
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Theories of Representation
• The Principal-Agent problem:
– Principal: a person, legal or natural, who authorizes an agent to act on
behalf of him to create one or more legal relationships with a third
party.
– Agent: a person who is authorized to act on behalf of another person.
– Who are the principal and who are the agents in politics?
• Principal: Voters, the people
• Agent: Representatives, government officials
– Trustee model: Representatives are principals too.
– Delegate model: Representatives are only agents. Principals are voters.
– Mandate model: Voters are principals, yet representatives are agents
and principals. Representatives have the mandate to govern for a
limited period of time.
– Resemblance model: Principals are different groups in society and an
agent is the representative chosen within these different groups.
(Here, the issue is not the principal-agent problem rather, to what
extent an agent resembles the principal.)
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Elections
• Modern democracies are usually equated with
competitive, free and fair elections.
• Competitive elections= several political parties
competing in the elections
• Free and fair elections= secret ballot and preventing
any influence/intervention on voters’ decisions.
• Elections are a political mechanism through which
ordinary people can participate in politics.
• Elections are also a political method to choose people
for the public offices. (members of government,
members of parliament, members of local government
and in some federal system governors)
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Functions of Elections
• Two different views on elections:
– Bottom-up: Political Accountability
• Through elections politicians are held accountable.
– Top-down: Political Influence
• Through elections politicians ensure their control on
the public.
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Bottom-up approach
• Recruiting politicians: Elections are the principal
source of political recruiting.
• Making governments: Through elections people
choose political executives for the government.
• Providing representation: Elections are means
through which demands are channelled from the
public to government.
• Influencing policy: Elections can influence
government policies. Elections are means of
choosing among different policies. People vote
for policies.
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Top-down approach
• Educating Voters: Election campaigns provide voters
information about policies, political parties, current
government’s actions.
• Building legitimacy: Elections foster legitimacy.
Elections provide justification for the government.
• Strengthening elites: Through elections elites
manipulate the public opinion, influence the decisions
of the masses. Elections only give citizens a
impression/sense of being influential on politics but in
reality voters are manipulated by politicians.
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Electoral Systems
• Proportional Representation (Nisbi temsil sistemi)
v. Majoritarian Representation (Cogunluk sistemi)
• The principle of proportional representation is
that parties should be represented in an
assembly or parliament in direct proportion to
their overall political strength. (Seats=percentage
of votes)
• The principle of majoritarian representation is
that an individual candidate who wins the most
vote gains the right of representing the whole
population.
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Single member plurality system (Tek
üyeli çoğunluk sistemi)
• First past the post (En fazla oy alan kazanir)
• Used in the UK, USA, Canada, India
• Single-member for each constituency (secim
bolgesi)
• Voters select one candidate
• The winner needs to achieve a plurality of
votes
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Pros and Cons
• Pros:
–
–
–
–
Voters know who they are voting for.
A clear mandate given to the government.
Extremist/radical parties are kept out of the system
Usually it creates single party government
• Cons:
– Wastes many votes
– Under-representation of small parties
– Tendency towards two-party system
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Second Ballot System (iki turlu veya
ikinci oylama sistemi)
•
•
•
•
•
Used in France
Similar to the first past the post.
Single member constituencies
Two-round system.
To win in the first ballot, a candidate needs an
overall majority of the votes cast.
• If no first-ballot majority, a second ballot is held
between two candidates which won the most
votes in the first ballot.
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Pros and Cons
• Pros:
– Gives a second chance/choice/thinking for voters
– Candidates in the second ballot has to appeal as broad as
possible
– Strong and stable government is possible.
• Cons:
– Unfair to third parties
– Candidates on the second ballot abandon their principles
and support short-term populist policies in order to make
alliances with other candidates who lost in the first ballot
– Second ballot means waste of time and money
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Alternative Vote System (Alternatif Oy
sistemi)
• Used in Australia
• Single-member constituencies
• There is preferential voting. Voters rank the
candidates in order of their preferences.
• Winning candidate needs 50% of the overall
votes.
• If no candidate reaches 50% votes given to last
candidate are distributed according to the second
preferences.
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Pros and Cons
• Pros:
– Fewer votes are wasted.
– Unlike second-ballot system the results are not
influenced by deals between candidates.
– Strong/ single-party governments remains as a
possibility.
• Cons:
– Still a majoritarian system and biased towards big
parties
– The outcome of the result can be skewed by the
preferences of small party voters
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Additional member system (İlave
Üyelik sistemi)
• Used in Germany, Italy and Russia
• Proportional representation.
• A specified percentage of seats are chosen by
the first past the post
• The remaining seats are filled using a party
list.
• Voters cast two votes: one for an individual
candidate and the other vote for a political
party.
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Pros and Cons
• Pros:
– Hybrid system that aims to balance majoritarian system
with a party list system in favour of proportional
representation
– Possibility of a single-party government
– Provides an opportunity for voters to choose their
individual representatives and also to choose a political
party
• Cons:
– Proportional representation is limited.
– System creates two types of representatives: one type
burdened with voters’ demands while the other group of
representatives have higher status and prospect for
ministerial office.
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Single Transferable Vote System
(Aktarılabilir Tekli oy sistemi)
• Used in the Republic of Ireland.
• Multimember constituencies.
• Electors vote accordingly to their preferences
similar to alternative vote system.
• Candidates are elected if they gain a minimum
number of votes.
• If not all seats are filled, then the votes given
to the last candidate redistributed.
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Pros and cons
• Pros:
– More proportional than other systems
– Fosters competition amongst candidates from the
same party for the seats.
• Cons:
– Proportional representation remains limited.
– Strong and stable single party is unlikely.
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Party-list system (Parti Listesi)
•
•
•
•
•
Used throughout Europe, Turkey.
Large number of multimember constituencies.
Parties offer a list of candidates
Electors vote for parties not for candidates.
Parties are allocated seats proportional to the
votes they gain
• There might be a threshold (secim baraji) such
as 5 % or 10 %.
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Pros and Cons
• Pros:
– Most proportional system.
– Provided that women and minority candidates are placed at the
top of the party list it helps such groups to be represented.
– Gives equal opportunity to small parties to be represented in
the parliament and emphasizes negotiation and cooperation.
• Cons:
– Existence of small parties lead to weak governments and
coalitions
– The link between representatives and their voters is broken.
– Unpopular candidates can be elected if they are put on the top
of the party list.
– Party politics becomes a leader-driven politics.
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Pros and Cons of Majoritarian Systems
• Pros:
– Strong and stable government /Single party
government
– Link between representatives and constituencies
– Radical parties are not elected.
• Cons:
– Votes of losing candidates are not counted at all.
– Under-representation of small parties
– Undermines the legitimacy of the government.
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Pros and Cons of Proportional
Representation
• Pros:
– Fair to all parties (if the threshold is not too high)
– Proportional representation of political parties
– Allows the representation of small parties and enable
them to influence government policies through
negotiations and bargaining.
• Cons:
– Tendency towards coalitions and usually weak
governments
– Representatives are usually out of touch from their voters.
– Party leaders dominate party politics as he/she decides
who will be in the party list. Creates leader-centred
political parties.
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What are the determining factors of
voting behaviour?
• 1) Party Identity: Affiliation with a political party
• 2) Sociological: Social classes, social divisions and
minority groups. Middle class vs. working class
• 3) Rational choice: choosing the political party
with the best policies that serve your interests.
• 4) Dominant Ideology: Claims that through the
mass media and election campaigning people’s
choices are manipulated by a dominant ideology.
The role of the mass media is crucial according to
this model.
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