Majority vs Minority And Voting systems of Proportional

Majority vs Minority And Voting systems of Proportional Representation and First Past the Post

Results …. Liberal Conservative NDP Green Bloc Quebecois SEATS # Block 4 7 3 11 3 12 36 Block 3 (Old) 4 16 9 1 3 33 Block 2 (Old) 10 2 9 11 3 35 Block 1 (Old) 12 9 3 1 1 26 Total % 33 (25%) 30 (23%) 32 (24. 6%) 16 (12. 3%) 19 (13. 6%) 130

First Past the post (FPTP) • Winner takes all the one that gets the most amount of votes = winner • Used from a British System – This is currently in Canada • Aka “Single Member Plurality System” • Ridings = 1 representative from that area = Member of Parliament • Plurality – Person with most votes wins = no matter % of people that voted (Kelowna/Lake-Country

Q) What can be the issue with FPTP? • 308 Ridings = 1 winner per riding = Members of Parliament = Party with the most amount of MPs = forming the Government (majority of seats) – Justin Trudeau = 50%+ … • Lib – 184 Con – 99 NDP – 44 Bloc – 10 Green – 1

Chocolate bar – I ask a question winner gets it… others get nothing…. . So what's wrong with that? ! Forgone conclusion = Voter apathy – Low turnout /don’t vote Tactical Voting – Vote against rather than for (Ex: Trump vs. Hillary)

2. Proportional Representation (PR) • Generally have more people come out to the vote because the % of the votes that a party gets = % of seats a party will get in the House of Commons • Ex: 30% = 30% of the seats • Approx. 90% of the Democratic World uses this

Q) Which system is better? Why? System First Past the Post Pro Cons Simple – You know what to do – based on British System = History/heritage ½ or more of the votes are not important therefore you have wasted votes Strong majority = Can achieve things that they promised without compromised Can have a majority without 50% of the votes Best with only 2 party system (think USA) Low representation of minorities (main focus is votes soo…. . ) often has a larger portion than 10% of votes that do not turn out # of seats not often reflected in the popular vote Youth vote = wasted because government will not gear its policies to a “smaller” section of the voting pool = wasted/disinterested = Low youth turn out Low Women/Minority turn out similar to Youth = feel that their votes do not impact result = do not turn out to vote as much Non-cooperative system = Parties who have majority do not need to work with other parities to achieve their agenda which is both good and bad but they can also force new policies on public without other parties

System Proportional Representation Pro Cons “Proper Vote” = people that voted for those parties have their representation = everyone gets someone they wanted More complicated system of voting (ballots) Small parties tend to be able to exist and survive More small parties = not often a good thing because it “splinters” votes Just as staple as FPTP Proportion (harder to work) = means you have to work harder to get things done Higher voter turn out = people think votes matter more so turn out is better MANY coalitions = difficult to ensure promises are fulfilled often have to make compromises (ex: BC – NDP /GREEN) Parliament reflects the % of votes that they won and therefore is a better mix similar to that of the country Frequently leads to unstable (can at least) governments and therefore more elections which cost $$$$$ = people tend to think it can be bad for the economy Decisions are made by coalitions/negotiations = longer to get things done BUT voters tend to like policies that are created because they represent the public more Decisions take longer to get things done = parties must work together to get ANYTHING done

Majority Government Winning party = more than 50% of seats Canada – 154 of 308 seats Minority Government Winning Party = LESS than 50% of seats in House of Commons Canada = less than 154 of 308 seats

So … which do you prefer? why? • In class, examples are easy = Chocolate bar splitting because consequences are “simple” • Real world we must consider the values and ideals of each party and what we want for US and our Country

Other voting systems around the world

Single Transferrable vote Northern Ireland Malta Scotland Instant Runoff Voting (IVR) = similar

Lowest are eliminated until someone gets majority

Plurality-Majority Systems = First past the post • Canada • India • Iran • Singapore • United States • United kingdom (Britain) • MANY OTHERS

Proportional Representation • • • • Belgium Denmark Finland Greece Hungary Israel Italy Luxembourg Norway Russia Spain Sweden Switzerland

Two – Round Runoff Voting • Majority Voting system • France • Monaco • Several developing countries still use it too (Mali, Togo, Chad, Gabon, Haiti) • Same voting style BUT 1) all votes are tallied = John Citizen gets 50% he is elected • IF no one is elected the ballot is cut to the top 2 choices and runoff election is held • 2 nd election is held weeks later and winner with most votes (majority since only 2 choices)