Elections and Voting
- First, elections are about representation, and
representation involves the right of citizens to choose officials
who represent them in various governmental, legislative, or
administrative posts: from the national level, to the regional, to
the local.
- Elections are about
popular consent, and as such they
give popular legitimacy to the government and the political
system
- Legitimacy is based either on:
- Consent
- Heredity
- or Religious rationalization
• - Popular Sovereignty: It is the principle that says, there is no
higher authority than the will of the people
• - Initiative: A type of referendum through which the public is
able to directly raise legislative proposals
• - Referendum: A type of vote in which the public express
their opinions by either YES, or NO, on issues spelled out
through initiatives, such as in many states in the U.S. Also,
referendums are used in some Third World countries where
voters have only one candidate – the president, the dictator,
etc. – to vote for, by yes or no.
• - Recall: A process whereby the public or electorate can call
unsatisfactory public officials to account, and vote on
removing them from office.
• - Majority Vote: A type of vote in which the one who gets
more than 50 percent of the votes wins the election,
• - Plurality Vote: A type of vote in which the one who gets the
highest percentage of votes wins the election, even if it is less
than 50 percent: say 45 %, or 40 %, etc..
• - Proportional Vote or Representation: It is the type of vote
in which seats – in the parliament or city council, etc.. -- are
allocated based on the percentages of votes which party lists
achieve in the elections.
• - Party-List Election System: The type of elections in which
various parties compete to win the public vote and elections,
by forming party list(s), or coalition list(s), for which the
voters vote for the complete list, or with minor modifications.
Examples: parliamentary elections in France, Britain, and now
in Lebanon.
• - Rational Choice Model: It is the model or theory in politics
which says that in elections people basically vote for the
parties or candidates whom they see as good, or they
rationalize that they are at least good to them and their
interests, or vote for those who promote or champion the
causes they espouse or support.