| Elections (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Elections are the basic way in which citizens participate in the democratic process. They are the main means of selecting leaders and policies that in some way reflect the public opinion and therefore its a device for filling an office. |
| Elections (DISTINCTIONS) | Democratic and non-democratic elections. Demo elections follow the principle of universal suffrage, one person = one vote. In a non-demo election, right to vote is restricted, voters are subject to pressure and intimidation, and 1 party or 1 candidate.
The most common way to distinguish an electoral system is by how they convert votes in seats. Majoritarian systems enable larger parties to win a higher proportion of seats than the proportion of votes they gain. In proportional representation systems, the relationship between seats and votes are more equally divided. |
| Elections (EXAMPLE) | An example of elections would be the upcoming election of the Netherlands, where the citizens vote in a party-list proportional representation system. |
| Constituencies/district (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Constituencies is a concept for a subdivision of a larger state to provide its population with representation for electoral purposes. Each subdivision or district has a number of legislative seats and a number of representatives depending on the type of electoral system. |
| Constituencies/district (EXAMPLE) | An example would be the United Kingdom which is made up out of 650 constituencies. |
| Plurality - FPTP (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Plurality type of systems is also know as first past the post (FPTP). This system unfolds in single member districts. In which voters are allowed to vote for one candidate of their choice. The winner would be the candidate with the most votes. |
| Plurality - FPTP (ADVANATAGE/DISADVANTAGES) | An advantage of this system would be that it is easy to understand. However, an disadvantage would be that there is a unequal representation |
| Plurality - FPTP (EXAMPLE) | An example of this system would be the UK where it is used for the elections of the house of Common. |
| Two round system (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Two round system is a majoritarian type of electoral system. This system exist out of 2 rounds. The first round is the FPTP system with single member districts. However, if no candidate has the absolute majority, which mean more than 50%. Then there is a second round in which the voters vote again but on the 2 best candidates of the first round and the winner would be the one with more than 50% of the votes. |
| Two round system (EXAMPLE) | France would be an example which use this type of system for the elections of the Assembly national. |
| Wasted votes (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Wasted votes occur in majoritarian systems with single-member district systems.
In this system votes who went to candidates other than the winner do not count towards representation. This could cause an unequal balance in the representation of the public opinion when candidates closely in scores with each other. |
| Wasted votes (EXAMPLE) | Wasted votes could be seen in the UK for example which used FPTP with a single member district. |
| Majoritarian systems (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Majoritarian system is an electoral system in which larger parties can win a higher number of seats that the proportion of the votes received in the election and unfolds normally in a single-member district. |
| Majoritarian system (PRO&CON) | Majoritarian system have the advantages that they allow a government to be formed that have a clear mandate from the electorate. It creates more simplicity, reduces the number of parties and increases the likelihood of a strong and effective government.
Some disadvantages are wasted votes occurs and a decrease in participation, minorities are excluded and no equal representation of the public opinion. |
| Majoritarian system (EXAMPLE) | An example would be the United Kingdom |
| Proportional Representation (CONTEXT/DEFINITION) | Proportional Representation is a form of an electoral voting system. In this type of voting system operate in a multi-member district and has the principle that political parties should be represented in a parliament the seats in proportion to the number of votes they received. |
| Proportional Representation (FEATURES) | Parties create a list of candidates to be selected by the voters. In this, there is a distinction between an open list and closed list. In a close list, voters may vote for the party and in an open list voters may vote on the candidates of the party. |
| Proportional Representation (PRO&CONS) | The system advantages would be that it decrease the number of wasted votes, more equal representations, minorities are more included. Some disadvantages are higher number of parties which could produce coalitions quicker, and it could mean that small parties have a disproportionate amount of influence. |
| Proportional Representation (PRO&CONS) (EXAMPLE) | An example would be the Netherland which have a proportional representation system with many political parties and these parties form coalitions to create the parliament |
| Political Parties (CONTEXT) | The concept of political party is a group of officials who share the same ideological beliefs and ideas and who are organized into an organization for the purpose of winning or maintaining government power. |
| Political Parties (DEFINITION) (4 FEATURES) | Political parties have 4 features. These features are that parties aim to exercise government power by winning the office, parties are organized bodies with memberships they focus on addressing issues of government policies, and parties share a united political preference and ideology. Furthermore, parties represent society and citizens, express the public opinion, organize society and conduct government and make government responsible. |
| Political Parties (EXAMPLE) | An example of a political party would be the PVV, which is a party in the Netherlands. |
| Types of party systems: one, two, multi (CONTEXT) | This concept is a system of interactions between various political parties in a country. In other words it's the pattern of all the political parties in a state. There are 3 types of democratic party systems. |
| Types of party systems: one, two, multi (DEFINITION) | These are, the dominant party system where several parties exist with competition, but one party always wins elections. Two-party systems where several parties exist, but only 2 parties can have chances to absolute majorities in elections. Lastly, there is a multiparty system where several parties exist and several parties have chances to win elections and form the government either alone or in coalition with other parties. |
| Types of party systems: one, two, multi (EXAMPLE) | An example would be the Netherlands for a multiparty system and the United States for a two-party system. And the dominant kind of party system would be Japan where several parliamentary parties exist but the LPD is the dominate party since 1995. |
| Duverger’s Law (CONTEXT) | Duverger's law is created by Maurice Duverger who proposed law and a hypothesis about the relationship between the number of parties in a country and the electoral system. |
| Duverger’s Law (DEFINITION) | The law explains that if a country uses plurality, so first past the post, then that country will tend to produce two-part systems and that proportional representations favor multi-party systems. Duverger argued that with a plurality voting system it tends to be more difficult to win seats for smaller parties on the fact that voters do not want to waste their votes on smaller parties that are unlike to win in this system. |
| Duverger’s Law (EXAMPLES) | An example of the workings of this law would be in the United States. |
| Reasons for disillusionment with parties (DEFINITION) | Disillusionment with parties is the global trend of declining in party membership |
| Reasons for disillusionment with parties (REASONS) | The reason for these declines could be that parties are corrupt and pursue their officials own interest, parties do not stand for anything, parties create social divisions and make them worse. Another reason could be that parties do a bad job in governing. |
| Anti-politics (CONTEXT) | Anti-politics is a concept that refers to a rejection of the traditional political processes and politicians. |
| Anti-politics (DEFINITION) | The reasons that this concept exists could be that politicians promise more than they can deliver, modern societies are increasingly difficult to govern and the political classes are unable to relate to the ordinary people. |
| Anti-politics (EXAMPLE) | An example of this concept would be the rise of parties and politicians who present themselves as outsiders and use populism to mobilize supporters |
