Elaborate Understanding Of The Proportional Representation

What Is Proportional Representation?

Politics is a common choice for students to take up when pursuing higher education. But it’s undoubtedly one of the most complex disciplines to pursue. Part of what makes this subject complex is topics like the proportional representation system.

Any of you pursuing a degree in politics have probably heard of this concept already. But if you think you could use a simple description of it, then you’re at the right place. Let’s delve into understand what proportional representation is all about.

Proportional representation is a system adopted to elect a country's government. This means the results of an election directly determine how many seats each party has got. The candidates who are elected then make decisions. This system comes with both advantages and disadvantages. The alternative to this system is the first-past-the-post system in which constituencies vote in one member, and that's all there’s to it.

In most of the western regions, there is more than one political party. Each elected candidate will be a member of one or the other party. If one political party maintains an overall majority, then it forms the government. Otherwise, the government must consist of members of more than one party.

When you’re studying political science, you need to develop a complete familiarity with the proportional representation system. But in case you fumble, our services can assist you with it. This will allow you to submit a flawless paper.

Principles of Proportional Representation Electoral System

The basic principles involving the proportional representation system are that every voter deserves representation. It also ensures all political parties are allowed to be represented in the legislatures as per their strength in the electorate. In simpler terms, everyone must have the right to fair representation.

To maintain this fair representation, all PR systems have several basic characteristics. These characteristics set them apart from other types of the election system. First, this system uses multi-member districts. Rather than electing one individual in each district, several people are elected.

The second characteristic of PR systems is that they separate the seats in these multi-member districts. As per the system, the proportion of votes received by the various parties or groups running candidates. Hence, if the candidates of a party win 40% of the vote in a ten member district, they earn four of the ten seats or 40% of the seats. If another party wins 20% of the vote, they obtain two seats, and so on.

This electoral system can be a little tricky to decipher for most of you. But you won’t have to break a sweat as long as MyAssignmenthelp.com is there for support. Our experts can help you grasp this concept easily.

How Does the Proportional Representation System Works?

The widely used categories of PR electoral systems are party-list PR, the single transferable vote (STV), and mixed-member proportional representation (MMP).

With party list PR, political parties determine candidate lists, and voters vote for a list. The relative vote for each list indicates how many candidates from each list are actually elected. Lists can be open or closed. Open lists enable voters to highlight their individual candidate preferences and vote for independent candidates. Voting districts can be small or as large as a province or an entire nation.

The single transferable vote makes use of multiple-member districts. The voters cast only one vote each but ranking individual candidates as per their preference.

Mixed member proportional representation (MMP), also called the additional member system (AMS), is a two-tier mixed electoral system. This system combines a compensatory regional or national party list PR election and local non-proportional plurality elections.

Get Assistance

Countries with Proportional Representation

Systems of proportional representation have been implemented in many countries, including Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Israel, Russia, Sweden, and Switzerland. Many countries of South America and Africa also practice this form of the electoral system.

Our efficient and skilled experts are aware of how to perfectly describe the PR system prevalent in the countries mentioned above. They have in-depth knowledge of how the PR system functions in every country.

What is Mixed-Member Proportional Representation?

Under the MMP system, the PR seats are presented to compensate for any disparity produced by the district seat results. For instance, if one party wins 10% of the vote nationally but no district seats, then it’ll be awarded enough seats from the PR lists to maintain its representation up to 10% of the seats in the legislature.

Although MMP is created to produce proportional results, it’s still possible that the disparity in the single-member district results is so great that the list seats can’t compensate for it.

Such situations are likely to occur when the PR electoral districts are defined not at the national level but at the regional level. A party can then win more majority seats in a province or region than its party vote in the region would allow it to.

Any time you find it difficult to work on this topic, you can rely on our experts. Their timely assistance will help you beat the deadline woes. You just need to send in your requirements, and our writers will provide timely solutions.

Proportional Representation Advantages

Encourage the formation of political parties of like-minded candidates to present the party lists. This may simplify the policy, ideology, or leadership differences within society, particularly when there’s no established party system.
Translating votes cast into seats won, and thereby avoid some of the more destabilising and ‘unfair’ outcomes presented by majority electoral systems. ‘Seat bonuses’ for the more prominent parties are reduced, and smaller parties can get their voice heard in the legislature.
Lead to fewer wasted votes. Almost all votes cast in this type of electoral system are aimed to elect a candidate of choice. This increases the voters’ willingness that it’s worth going to the polling booth during elections. This way, the voters can be more confident that their vote will make a difference to the election outcome.

Proportional Representation Disadvantages

Coalition governments eventually result in legislative gridlock and the inability to conduct appropriate policies. Coalition cabinets and governments that are divided by factions hamper the swift and coherent decision making.
Provides a platform for extremist parties. PR systems are often criticised for offering space in the legislature to extremist parties.
Small parties get a huge amount of power. Large parties may be compelled to enter into coalitions with much smaller parties. The smaller parties get the power to veto any proposal that comes from the larger parties.

Endnote,

Studying politics can be overwhelming for many of you, particularly when the topic is as complex as proportional representation. That’s why it’s wise for you to develop a simple idea about this type of electoral system from this post.

Connect Now