FPTP vs AMS Study - Summary notes of the arguments for First Past the Post Electoral System and PDF

Preview

Summary

Summary notes of the arguments for First Past the Post Electoral System and the Additional Member System Voting System...

Description

FPTP vs. AMS ELECTIONS  Elections provide a link between society members and decision makers.  Elections can be regarded as an umbilical cord which connects the two.  In theory, they represent the views and interests of society.  They have influence over policy making as they’re voting for who they want to run their country and whose manifesto that they agree with the best, however, the influence that ordinary people have is limited as elections are only held every 4/5 years.  The electorate is besieged with information from the media and political parties, they become more knowledgeable and educated and this helps them to approach a decision about whom they wish to vote for.  However this can generate some people to turn off and stop caring, some even may become cynical and decide to not even vote.  The electorate has to try to come to terms with various electoral systems as there are different systems which are used in different countries and different elections.

GENERAL INTRO TO BOTH SYSTEMS  First Past the Post is representative and fair to a certain extent, it is a majoritarian electoral system.  First Past the Post is used for UK general elections and uses a simple majority system where the candidate in each of the 650 constituencies with the most votes wins a seat.  The Additional Member System is used for Scottish Parliament elections and is a mixture of FPTP and Proportional Representation as two votes are cast-one to elect an MSP from each of the 73 constituencies and one to choose a party from the Party List system.  First past the post provides fair representation and

choice to a certain extent because it is easy to understand, usually leads to clear winners and helps retain a clear link between MPs and Constituents.  However, proportional representation systems, such as AMS, can be credited for providing greater representation and choice because they are more proportional and allow for greater voter choice.

EASY TO UNDERSTAND  First Past the Post is representative and fair to a certain extent as it is easy to understand.  The voter simply has to place an X next to their chosen candidate and the candidate with the most votes in the constituency wins.  This benefits elderly people and first time voters as it is a simple process.  First past the post also produces fast results and the process of counting the votes in each constituency is reasonably quick and the result of the election is announced the next day.  However, additional member system is more complicated as it features two votes which can confuse voters who are used to using FPTP in general elections.  As a result of the complicated voting system many votes are wasted.  For example, in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, 140,000 ballot papers were rejected.  Therefore, first past the post is representative and fair to a certain extent as it is easy to understand for first time voters.

NOT PROPORTIONAL  First past the post is not representative and fair to a certain extent as it is not proportional.  First past the post does not produce a proportional result as he percentage of votes gained during FPTP do not match up with the percentage of seats gained.  FPTP can also result in a lot of wasted votes as the

     

votes for the candidates that didn't win are discarded in each constituency. This can result in voter apathy as many voters feel that their vote does not count. However, additional member system is more proportional. AMS features two ballot papers- one uses FPTP and the other uses the Party List. In 2011 the SNP won 45.5% of the vote in the Scottish Parliament election which was 69 seats which is 53.4% of the available seats. This shows that AMS produces a more proportional result than FPTP. Therefore, FPTP is not representative and fair to a certain extent as it does not produce a proportional result.

USUALLY CLEAR WINNER  First past the post is representative and fair to a certain extent as it usually leads to a clear winner.  FPTP usually produces a majority government and avoids minority and coalition governments, with the exception of the 2010 General Election which resulted in a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.  This was a rare example as it was the first time the winning party did not have an overall majority since 1974.  However, AMS usually leads to coalition governments, with the exception of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election where the SNP won an overall majority.  Coalition governments can be seen as a strength as it means one party cannot force their opinions on the public, especially when the party does not have more than 50% of the vote.  It also can create consensus and agreement on important policies, such as the 2003 smoking ban.  However, coalition governments can be seen as a weakness as the electorate never votes for a coalition

government, so it can be seen as undemocratic.  Minority governments can also struggle to put through important policies.  The SNP minority government in 2007-2011 failed to put through many of their key policies such as Minimum Unit Pricing.  Therefore, FPTP is representative and fair to a certain extent as it leads to clear winners and usually avoids coalition governments.

UNFAIR TO SMALL PARTIES  First past the post is not representative and fair to a certain extent as it is unfair to smaller parties.  Smaller parties who only gain a small percentage of the vote will have no representation as they do not win in any constituencies.  This shows that FPTP favours larger parties as they are more likely to win in constituencies and gain more MPs as the total votes are not added up across all of the constituencies.  Since 1945, with the exception of 2010, every UK government has been Conservative or Labour.  However, AMS allows for greater voter choice as there are two votes.  The first votes elects an MSP for each constituency and the second elects an MSP from each of the seven regions.  This means that voters can vote for two different parties in one election.  Nevertheless, it can be argued that smaller parties gain too much power.  AMS allows parties that receive very few votes to be part of coalition governments and this means that they can influence many of the laws that are passed.  The Liberal Democrats helped to introduce free tuition fees and free care for the elderly as part of a coalition government when they only had 15% of the total vote.  Therefore, FPTP is not representative and fair to a certain extent as it favours larger parties and small

parties do not receive any representation.

STRONG LINK  First past the post is representative and fair to a certain extent as it retains a strong link between MPs and their constituents.  Voters vote directly for one MP and once they are elected the constituents are fully aware of who to hold accountable for their actions.  Nevertheless, the winning MP may not have the majority of votes cast as in 1992 a Liberal Democrat MP was elected with only 26% of the vote.  However, under AMS Regional MPs are not directly voted for by the public.  The electorate votes for a party and the party decides what candidate will be the MSP for the region.  As a result, they are often not held accountable for their actions as people do not know who they are.  Therefore, FPTP is representative and fair to a certain extent as a strong link between constituents and MPs is retained as they are voted for directly by the electorate.

CONCLUSION  In conclusion, first past the post is representative and fair to a certain extent.  AMS appears to be fairer than FPTP in terms of proportionality and in terms of more accurately representing the choices of voters.  It can also be argued that voters get the best of both worlds with proportionality and a directly-elected constituency MSP.  FPTP does allow for a clear result and usually creates a clear mandate to govern.  It also promotes an effective and clear link between MPs and their constituents.  However, under FPTP candidates and parties can win at both constituency and regional level without the majority of the votes.



Therefore, to deem FPTP completely fair and representative would be inaccurate....