7) Representation - Lecture notes 7 PDF

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Representation, Elections and Voting Anarchist slogan : “If voting whanged anything they’d abolish it.” Democracy in practice ; political = servants of the people Key issues : - What is representation? How can one person ‘represent another’? - How can representation be achieved in practice? - What do elections do? What are their functions? - How do electoral systems differ? What are their strengths and weaknesses? - What do election results mean?

Representation A relationship through which an individual or group stands for, or acts on behalf of, a larger body of people ; differs from democracy in that, while the former acknowledges a distinction between gvt and the governed, the latter, at least in its classical form, aspires to abolish this distinction and establish popular self-gvt. Representative demo may nevertheless constitute a limited and indirect form of democratic rule, provided that the representation links gvt and the governed in such a way that the ppl’s views are articulated, or their interests secured Theories of representation 

Trusteeship

Trustee : a person who acts on behalf of others, using his superior knowledge, better education or greater exp ; top to bottom kind of rep° E. Burke’s speech to the electors of Bristol (1774) : “You choose a member indeed; but when you have chosen hil he is not member of Bristol, but he is a member of parliament… Your representative serving you, if he sacrifices it to you opinion.” Essence of representation = to serve one’s constituents by the exercise of ‘mature judgement’ and ‘enlightened conscience’ ; = moral duty  elitist implications bc mass of ppl doesn’t know its own best interests J.S. Mill : system of plural voting (more you’re educated more your vote count)  all individuals have the right to be represented but not all political opinions are of equal value Trustee rep portrays professional politicians as representatives, insofar as they are mmb of an educated elite Critics : - Antidemocratic implications : if politicians should think for themselves bc public is ignorant, poorly educated  voting system is a mistake

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Link btw education and representation : education may certainly be of value in aiding the understanding of intricate political and economic pb, far less clear that it helps politicians to make correct moral judgements about the interests of others ; no evidence of link btw education and altruism or sense of social responsibility T. Paine, Common Sense (1776) : politicians will simply pursue their own interests  representation could become a substitute for demo “the elected should never form to themselves an interest separate from electors” Delegation

Delegate : a person who is chosen to act for another on the basis of clear guidance and instruction; delegates do not think for themselves Support mechanisms that ensure that politicians are bound as closely as possible to the views of the represented  T. Paine “frequent interchange” btw rep and their constituents in the form of regular elections and ST in office Radical demo : use of initiatives and the right of recall more public control on polit Referendums Virtue : broader opportunities for popular participation and serves to check the self-serving inclinations of pro polit  ideal of popular sovereignty Disadvantages : - In ensuring that rep are bound to the r of their constituents, tends to breed narrowness and foster conflict  Burke - Limits the scope for leadership and statesmanship due to distrust in polit to exercise their own judgement  polit are not able to mobilize the ppl by providing vision and inspiration 

The mandate

= an instruction or command from a higher body that demands compliance. The idea of a policy mandate arises from the claim on behalf of a winning party in an election that its manifesto promises have been endorsed, giving it authority to translate these into a prog of gvt. The doctrine of the mandate implies that the party in pwr can only act within the mandate it has received. The + flexible not° of a governing mandate, or, for an individual leader, a personal mandate, has smtmes been advanced, but it is difficult to see how this in any way restricts politicans once they’re in pwr. The closest to our current system Strengths : - takes account of the undoubted practical importance of party labels and party policies

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provides a means of imposing meaning on election results and a way of keeping politicians to their word

Critics : - based on a highly questionable model of voting behaviour, voters select parties on the grounds of policies and issues  not so rational and well-informed, influenced by other factors (rhetoric, leader personnaly…) - voters will be attracted by certain manifesto commitments, but be less interested in/opposed to others - imposes a straitjacket, limits gvt policies to those positions and proposals that the party took up during the election  no scope to adjust policies in the light of changing circumstances - can only be applied in the case of majoritarian electoral systems 

Resemblance

Typify or resemble the group they claim to represent Rep cross-section : a rep gvt would constitute a microcosm of the larger society, containing members drawn from all groups and sections in society and in nb that are proportional Descriptive rep (= ‘microcosmic rep’): a model of representation that takes account of politicians’ social and other characteristics, usually based on the idea that they should be a ‘representative sample’ of the larger society Limits : - Portrays rep° in exclusive or narrow terms, believeing that only a woman can represent women…  social division, conflict - Microcosm  reflect society’s weaknesses and strengths - Can be achieved only by imposing powerful constraints on electoral choice and individual freedom (political parties : quotas ; electorates might have to be classified according to gender, ethnicity…)

Elections Representative process is intrinsically linked to elections and voting (not sufficient condition for pol rep°) but necessary J. Schumpeter, Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy (1942) : demo = ‘institutional arrangment’ = way of fillinf pub office by a competitive struggle for the ppl’s vote “democracy means only that the ppl have the opportunity of accepting or refusing the men who are to rule them” Demo gvt = rules and mechanisms that guide the conduct of elections Different forms of elections :

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Which offices/posts are subject to the elective principle?  second chambers of legis (UK, Canada) Who is entitled to vote, how widely is the franchise drawn? (property ownership, education, gender, racial origin) How are votes cast? (show of hands -USSR-, secret ballot)  ‘fair’ elections : secret ballot, voters’ access to reliable and balanced info, range of choice offered, circumstances under which campaigning is carried, how the vote is counted… Are elections competitive?  nature of the party system may be as crucial to the maintenance of genuine competition as are rules about who can stand and who can vote How is the election conducted?

Functions of elections 1980s-90s : democratisation stimulated by the collapse of the communist party  adoption of libdem electoral systems Harrop and Miller : 2 contrasting views of the function of competitive elections : - Conventional : elect° = mechanism through which politicians can be called to account and forced to introduce policies that somehow reflect the public opinion  bottom-up functions of elections (political recruitment, rep°, making gvt, influencing policy) - Radical (Ginsberg) : elect° = means through which gvts and political elites can exercise control over their pop°  top-down functions (building legitimacy, shaping public opinion, strengthening elites) In reality, elections are a ‘two-way street’  channel of political communication Central functions of elections : - Recruiting politicians - Making gvts (France, USA, Venezuela) or influence the formation of gvts (more common parliamentary systems) - Providing representation : channelles demands from the public to the gvt (when fair and competitive) - Influencing policy - Educating voters - Building legitimacy - Strengthening elites : Proudhon ‘universal suffrage is couter-revolution’ Electoral systems : debates and controversies = a set of rules that governs the conduct of elections  

Voters may be asked to choose btw candidates or btw parties Voters may either select a single candidate, or vote preferentially, ranking the candidates they wish to support in order

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The electorate may or may not be grouped into electoral units or constituencies Constituencies may return a single member or a number of members The level of support needed to elect a candidate varies from a plurality to an overall or ‘absolute’ majority , or a quota somekind The systems available, 2 categ : - Majoritarian systems : largers parties typically win a higher proport° of seats then votes they gain in the elect°  more chances of a single party gaining a parliamentary majority and so govern on its own (eg: UK 1945 and 2010) - Proportional systems : single party majority rule less likely ; commonly associated with multiparty systems and coalit° gvt

 Single-member plurality system Eg : uk house of commons, usa, Canada, india, Majoritarian Features : - Country divided into single-mmb constitutencies, usually of equal size - Voters select a single candidate - Winning candidate needs only to achieve a plurality of votes Advantages : - Clear link btw rep and constituents, ensuring that constituency duties are carried out - Clear choice of potential parties of gvt offered to the electorate - Allows gvt to be formed that have a clear mandate from the electorate, albeit often on the basis of plurality support amongst its electorate - Keeps extremism at bay bc difficult for small parties to gain seats and credibility - Strong and effective gvt in that a single party usually has majority control of assembly - Stable gvt bc single party rarely collapse as a result of disunity and internal frict° Disadvantages : - ‘wastes’ many votes, those cast for losing candidates and those cast for winning ones over plurality the mark - 3rd party effect : Distorts electoral preferences by ‘under-representing’ small parties and ones with geographically evenly distributed support - Limited choice bc of its duopolistic tendencies - Undermines the legitimacy of gvt  producing a system of plurality rule - Instability bc a change in gvt can lead to a radic shift of policies/direction - Unaccountable gvt  legis is subordinate to the exec, bc the majo of its mb and supporters are mb of the governing party - Discourage the selection of a socially broad spread of candidates in favour of those who are attractive to a large body of voters  Second ballot system eg : presidential elections in Austria, Chile, Russia Majoritarian Features :

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Single-candidate constituencies and single-choice voting as in the SMP To win : needs an overall majority of the votes cast If no candidate gains a first-ballot majority, a second, run-off ballot is held btw the leading 2 candidates Advantages : - Broaden electoral choice : voters can vote with their heart at first and then with their heads - Candidates can win only with majority support, encouraged to make their appeals as broad as possible - Strong and stable gvt Disadvantages : - Little + proportional than SMP one  distorts pref and is unfair to 3rd parties - Run off candidates encouraged to abandon their pcples for ST popularity - Second ballot : strain the electorate’s patience and interest in politics  Alternative system (AV) ; supplementary vote (SV) Eg : Australia (house of rep AV), London mayor SV Majoritarian Features : - Single-mb constituencies - Preferencial voting : o AV : rank candidates in order of pref o SV : single ‘supplementary’ vote - To win : 50% of all the votes cast - Votes counted according to 1st pref ; if no 50% so 1st candidate is eliminated and 2nd pref taken into account SV : all candidates drop out except the top 2 Advantages : - Fewer votes are ‘wasted’ than in SMP - Outcome cannot be influenced by deals made tw candidates //second ballot - Winning candidates must secure at least 50% Disadvantages : - Not much more proportional than SMP  biased in favour of large parties - Outcome might be determined by the preferences of those who support small/extremist parties - Winning candidates may enjoy little-pref support, and have only the virtue of being at least unpopular candidate available  Mixed-member proportional (MMP) ; additional member (AMS) Eg : Germany, Italy, new Zealand, Scottish parliament, welsh assembly Proportional Features : - Proport° of eat filled by smp using single-mb constituencies

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Remaining seats filled using the party-list system Electors cast 2 votes : one for a candidate in the constituency elect° and the other for a party Advantages : - Hybrid nature balances the need for constituency rep° against the need for electoral fariness ; party list ensures that the whole assembly is proportionally rep - System is broadly proportional for outcomes, still possibility of single-party gvt - Poss to choose a constituency rep from one party and yet support another party to form a gvt - Take into account that rep constituents and holding ministerial office are very diff jobs  require diff talents and exp Disadvantages : - Retention of single-mmb constituencies prevents the achievement of high levels of proportionality - System creates 2 classes of representative, one burdened by insecurity and constituency duties, the other having higher status and the prospect of holding ministerial office - Constituency rep° suffers bc of the size of constituencies - Parties become + centralized and powerful under this system, as they decide not only who has the security of being on the list and who has to fight constituencies, but also where on the list candidates are placed  Single-transferable-vote Eg: Northern Ireland Assembly Proportional Features : - Multimb constituencies, each of which usually returns btw 3-8 mmb - Parties may put forward as many candidates as there are seats to fill - Eletors vote preferentially, as in the alternative vote system - Candidates are elected, if the achieve a quota ; this is the min nb of votes needed to elect the stipulated nb of candidates : Quota = (ttl nb of votes cast)/(nb of seats to be filled+1) +1 - Votes are countd according to 1st pref ; if not al the seats are filled, the bottom candidate is eliminated  votes redistributed according to second pref ; until all the seats have been filled Advantages : - Capable of achieving highly proportional outcomes - Competition amongst candidates from the same party means that they can be judged on their records and on where they stand on issues that cut across party lines - Availability of several mb means that constituents can choose to whom to take their grievances Disadvantages : - Degree of proportionality achieved varies, largely on the basis of the party syst - Strong and stable single-party gvt is unlikely

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Intra-party competition may be divisive, and may allow mb to evade their constituency responsibilities

 Party-list system Eg: Israel, belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, European parliament Proportional Features : - Either the entire country is treated as a single constituency or, in the case of regional party lists, there are nb of large multimb constituencies - Parties compile lists of candidates to place before the electorate, in descending order of preference - Electors vote for parties not for candidates - Parties are allocated seats in direct proportion to the votes they gain in the election. They fill these seats from their party list - A ‘threshold’ may be imposed to exclude small, possibly extremist, parties from rep° Advantages : - Only potential pure system of proportional rep°, and is therefore fair to all parties - Promoted unity by encouraging electors to identify their nation or region, rather than with a constituency - Makes it easier for women and minorty candidates to be elected, provided, they feature on the party list - Rep° of a large nb of small parties ensures that there is an emphasis upon negociation, bargaining and consensus Disadvantages : - Existence of many small parties  weak and unstable gvt - Link btw rep° and constituencies is entirely broken - Unpopular candidates who are well-placed on a party list cannot be removed from office - Parties become heavily centralized, bc leaders draw up party lists, and junior mb have an incentive to be loyal in the hope of moving up the list

Voting behaviour Voting provides one of the richest source of info° about the interact° btw individuals, society and politics Voting behaviour  learn abt the nature of the political syst, and gain insight into the process of social and political change Shaped by : - Long-term influences - Short-term influences : specific to a particular elect°, do not allow conclusions to be drawn abt voting patterns in general = state of the eco (which reflects the fact that there is usually a link btw a gvt’s popularity and economic variables), personality and public standing of party leaders (media exposure), mass media Operate within a context of psychological, sociological, economic and ideological influences on voting

Theories of voting  Party-identification model Earliest theory based on the sense of psychological attachment that ppl have to parties Voting = manifestation of partisanship not a product of calculat° influenced by policies, personalities, campaigning, media coverage… Political socialization (family)  reinforce by grp mmbship and social exp Partisan alignment  stability, continuity especially in terms of habitual patterns of voting behaviour Deviat° = impact of ST factors Weaknesses : Growing evidence from a nb of countries of partisan dealigment (a decline in which ppl align themselves with a party by identifying with it)  USA decline in democrats and republicans and rise of independents (6% in 1952 to 36% in 2009) ; UK decline in allegiance to the conservative party and labour (very strong id° 43% in 1966 to 9% in 2005) Partisan dealignment : a decline in the extent to which ppl align themselves with a party by identifying with it. This implies that the normal support of parties falls, and a growing nb of electors become floating or swing voters. As party loyalties weaken, electoral behaviour becomes more volatile, leading to greater undertainty and, perhaps, the rise of new parties, or the decline of old ones. The principal reasons for partisan dealignment are the expansion of education, increased social mobility, and growing reliance on television as a source of political info°  Sociological model Voting behaviour and grp mmbship  voting patterns that reflects economic and social position = social alignment reflecting various tensions and divisions in society (class, gender, ethnicity, religion, region) ‘interest + socialisation’ (Denver 2012) Party syst reflects class syst? P. Pulzer “class is the basis of British party politics; all else is embellishment and detail” Limits : - ignores the individual and the role of personal self-interest - growing empirical evidence that the link btw sociological factors and party support has weakened in modern societies  class dealignment (eg : UK, absolute class voting 66% in 1966 to 47% in 1983 ; labour 1997 more votes form non-manual than manual workers) Class dealignment : the weakening of the relationship btw social class and party support. Social class may nevertheless remain a significant factor influencing electoral choice. The

impact of dealignment has been to undermine traditional class-based parties (notably, working class parties of the left), often bringing about a realignment of the party syst. Explanations of class dealignment usually focus on changes in the social structure that have weakened the solidaristic character of class ide...