Study Theme 1D: Electoral Systems, Voting and Political Attitudes
Course Arrangements
- The UK, Scottish, European Parliamentary and Scottish local government electoral systems; effects on the distribution of power with in and among parties, in elected bodies and between the electorate and the elected.
- Voting patterns: explanation of voting behaviour.
- The shaping of political attitudes through the media; opinion polls; referenda; voter participation.
ESSAY QUESTIONS
Some factors are more important than others in influencing voting behaviour.
Discuss.
The Additional Member System gives voters more choice and better representation than does First Past the Post. Discuss. 2007
Assess the influence of social class on voting behaviour. 2008
Critically examine the view that the media is the most important influence on votingbehaviour. 2009
Pupil Lesson One: Scotland’s Electoral Systems.
- Read pages 94 and 95 of your textbook and discuss with your teacher.
- The ‘Electoral Systems Debate’. Read pages 95 and 96 complete Questions 1-3 on page 96. (Finish off for homework)
Pupil Lesson Two: First Past the Post.
1. Read pages 96-99 and complete the activities on page 99.
Lesson Three: The 2010 Election Results: How representative is First Past the Post?
Resources
Modernity
BBC news site
Electoral Reform Society website
Product Criteria
- You must produce a report for your classmates on the results. Use the issues raised in the 2005 as your headings and add any new ones you feel are relevant.
- You must produce a PowerPoint presentation to support your report.
Form Criteria
-Groups of four.
-Your report must be two A4 sides.
-You must email your report to every member of the class, with no spelling mistakes
-Your PowerPoint presentation must be interesting/ relevant and clear
-Two people must present your presentation
`Lesson Four: The 2005 Election Results: How representative is First Past the Post?
Use the info from the FPTP pack on the Pupil server (Go to Modern Studies- go to pupils- higher- Voting Systems- FPTP) to answer the following questions. You can also use ModernityChunk the challenge so your group can get all the data in the hour!
Section 1.1 Government by a small majority.
a)What was Labour’s majority in the 2005 General Election?
b)Why does FPTP enable Labour to have a disproportionate number of votes compared to seats in parliament?
c)What was Labour’s actual percentage of the vote in the 2005 General Election?
d)“Britain has never returned a majority government to power in the last 40 years.”
Use the information in section 1.1 to discuss the above quote.
e) Group Task
To what extent could it be argued that the British government is the most unpopular in the world? Use pages 4- 6 to help you.
Produce a group presentation to display your findings.
Section 1.2 A very low turnout
a)What conclusions could you draw about turnout rates in from the 2005 election?
Section 1.3 Unfair representation of parties
a)In what ways did FPTP give an unfair representation of parties in 2005?
Section 1.4 Wasted votes
b)Could it be argued that the 2005 result meant huge numbers of votes were wasted?
Section 1.5 Electoral system bias
a)Did the 2005 result reinforce the dominance of the two party system or display a new pattern in party support?
b)Could it be argued that England did not get the government it voted for? Why did this happen?
Lesson Five: Essay Challenge: write the perfect answer.
Peer Review
To what extent does First Past the Post provide a fair and democratic result?
1. In your group plan the essay above you have 15 minutes.
2. Review you plan with one person from another group, add any good points your partner has.You have 10 minutes
3. Now find another person in the class who you have not worked with before and review your answer for a second time. You have 10 minutes
4. You will write this essay exam conditions next lesson.
Lesson Six: Proportional representation (PR)
PR is based on the principle that every party winning an agreed minimum number of votes should be awarded a number of seats in the legislature. This number should be approximately proportional to the number of votes the party receives in the country as a whole. Some small parties, who gain very few votes, would not be awarded any seats at all even under PR.
In Scotland the FPTP electoral system works massively in favour of Labour compared to the shares of seats, which would emerge, from any type or proportional representation. Exactly how important the principle of proportionality is in determining the number of seats won by each party can be clearly seen by comparing the results in Scotland in 2005. If they were translated into shares of seats on the basis of proportionality, there would have been no majority of seats for the Labour Party, and the SNP would have won more seats than the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives would have won eighteen seats rather than eleven.
The advantages and disadvantages of the Additional Member System
How the System Works:In the Additional Member System (AMS), the voter has two votes; one to vote for a constituencyMSP, the other to vote for a Regional “list” MSP.
The first vote is actually a traditional FPTP election. For example, in East Lothian in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, the Labour candidate Iain Gray won more votes than his rivals and became the constituency MSP. However, under the AMS, North Berwick is part of the wider Lothians constituency. To give some compensation to the parties who may have secured a decent number of votes spread out across the wider constituency, RegionalList seats (each of Scotland’s 8 regions has 7 additional list members) are allocated according to the proportion of the vote each party receives.
The end result in East Lothian is that Ian Gray is the constituency MSP and there are 7 additional MSPs for the wider Lothian region.
If a constituent in East Lothian has an issue in the area e.g. crime, he/she could go to Ian Gray to do something, but could, in theory, approach a“list” MSP instead, such as the SNP's Fiona Hyslop.
Task One: Read the Interview with Willie Rennie MP pages 100-101 textbook
Homework Task:
1. Find out who the list MSPs are for the wider “regional” constituency and see who gained the most votes.
LessonSeven: Everything you ever wanted to know about AMS
Task One: Read pages 101-104 textbook and take notes under each of the blue headings in the book.
Lesson Eight: Class Debate AMS vs FPTP:
which is the most democratic?
You will be split into two groups one supporting AMS and the other supporting FPTP.
Each group will need to research and exemplify why their system is more democratic than the other.
All of you must prepare as you will draw lots to become one of the two speakers in your group.
Your group will need a spokesperson to introduce your main arguments. You will also need a person to respond to the opposition spokesperson.
You have 40 minutes to prep your arguments. Each speech should be 5mins long.
Lesson Nine: AMS Essay prep
Your debate should have provided you with a plan for the essay below.
This essay will be timed next lesson.
To what extent is the AMS more democratic than FPTP?
Single Transferable Vote
If FPTP is so bad,why have the Lib-Dems done so well in recent times? There is no doubt the Lib-Dems have always championed a form of PR (STV is the one they prefer) but the party has become very skilled at manipulating the bad old FPTP system.
In February 2006, the Lib Dems achieved a 16% swing against Labour in the Dunfermline WestWestminster by-election, taking the seat.
The Liberal Democrats obtained 22% of the vote in the 2005 UK General election and won 62 seats. This was achieved by clever campaigning. The Lib Dems targeted resources in marginal seats.
They emphasised their “left wing” policies in Labour areas and the more “right wing” policies in Conservative areas.
The Lib-Dems are taken seriously by the Conservatives as a real threat to their status as Opposition. Frustrated at Labour promises to introduce PR, the Lib-Dems have become skilled at manipulating FPTP.
In 2007, the SNP did well via the STV. The SNP is now the largest party in Scottish councils.
This is largely because the SNP achieved the highest number of votes.
Because of the proportional nature of the ST V, it allowed the SNP to translate their number of votes into council seats.
Why was STV introduced to Scottish local elections?
Firstly, there is an argument over the fairness of the previous FPTP system.
In the 1999 council elections, Labour in Midlothian gained 46% of the vote but 94% of the seats! 12 of Scotland’s 32 councils are dominated by parties with less than 50% of the votes cast. Turnout rateswere low too. It is claimed that turn out rates for local government elections are only respectable because recently council elections have taken place simultaneously with Scottish parliament elections.
Under the old FPTP, some council by-election turnouts were as low as 12%.
Moreover, the reality of devolution meant STV was inevitable.
In 2003, in order to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, Labour had to concede to the Liberal Democrats' demands for the STV to be introduced to local council elections.
PR brought in more PR! Had Labour won an overall majority in the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections, STV would not have been brought in.
The decision to adopt STV was, to quote one Labour councillor, “like turkeys voting for Christmas”.
The 2007 Scottish council election resultswouldvindicate this conclusion.
Labour, once the dominant party in Scottish local government now has overall control of just two local authorities; Glasgow and North Lanarkshire.
In East Dunbartonshire, Labour has even entered a coalition with the Conservatives!
Is STV more democratic?
As always, yes and no!
Firstly, STV is one of the most proportionate systems, normally delivering a result which closely reflects the amount of votes a party gets.
It also retains a constituency link. Voters haveseveral votes and can vote according to their preference; 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th choice etc.
Scottish local authorities now have much larger wards(constituencies) represented by either 3 or 4 councillors.
It is unlikely, although possible, that these will all be from the same party. Parties can stand more than one candidate.
So, a Labour voter can, for example, vote for Labour candidate Josephine Kerr as No 1 choice because she has been a good councillor but they may not vote for Labour candidate Darren McQueen with their No 2 because they do not know who he is.
He/she may instead give their No 2 vote to SSP candidate Arthur Walker (all these names are fictitious!) because he/she remembers her from school and liked her.
Another scenario is that a Conservative voter may vote for a Conservative candidate in his/her first preference but ignore Conservative candidates in the three other choices.
Of course a party die hard, say an SNP die hard, can vote for SNP candidates as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th choices if he/she so chooses.
The voter therefore has greater choice, and particularly at a local level, where personal relations are often important, it is argued STV is a step forward.
It is argued that STV will be good for the hard working local councillor but bad for the “numpty” councillors who (allegedly) care more for junkets and expense claims than their constituents.
Overall, supporters of STV mean that politics will become more mature and grown up. With no party in overall control, issues will have toactually bediscussed and considered.
In the old days, the party whip ensured that the dominant party's views won and opposition was meaningless.
Even in Glasgow City Council now, the bastion of where Labour retains a majority, there is now a sizeable SNP group. There areeven some Green councillors able to contribute to discussions.
N.B. DO NOT get hung up on the mathematics of STV. That is for the stattos and anoraks. It is the political effects of STV you need to concern yourself with.
Critics of STV use the standard anti-PR arguments that coalitions mean fudge and paralysis in decision making.
In 2007, many multi-party coalitions were formed. These tended to be anti-Labour coalitions where parties, frozen out of power for so long by the FPTP system took their revenge on Labour by conspiring aginst them!
It is claimedthat voters will end up with a government, and policies, that no-one voted for.
In North Ayrshire, Labour gained the Lord provostship throught cutting cards!
At least with FPTP, it is argued, some people are happy with the result.
STV can lead to a "mongrel" coalition being created; carrying out policies the voterswere not presented with at the election.
Student activities
- Explain the differences between STV and FPTP.
- In what ways is STV, allegedly, more democratic than FPTP?
- Why might smaller parties do better in a STV election?
- Why is the Labour Party, in particular, likely to lose outin the 2007STV local council elections?
Analysis
To what extent is STV a more democratic system of electing representatives than FPTP?
Scottish Council Elections 2007: STV and Democracy
Elections to Scottish local authorities were greatly overshadowed by the Scottish Parliament elections and this has caused no lack of frustration among local councillors.
Combining the elections may have added to voter confusion. It also undermined the vital role local authorities play in Scottish society. As expected, Labour lost many councillors and the leadership of many councils in the first Scottish elections held under the STV.
The number of Labour councillors fell from 509 to 348. The number of SNP councillors surged from 181 to 363. The SNP is now the biggest party in local government. The previous FPTP system was of great benefit to Labour with its working class voters concentrated in specific areas.
Labour had to concede STV elections for local authorities as part of the 2003 Scottish Executive Partnership Agreement with the Liberal Democrats.
Ironically, the Liberal Democrats have experienced a decline in the number of their councillors, down from 175 to 166. Just shows that PR does not always favour the Liberal Democrats!
First, voters have to vote for you, no matter the voting system in place. The Liberal Democrats right now are Scotland’s fourth most popular party. No voting system can deny this fact. In City of Edinburgh, Labour lost overall control, with the Liberal Democrats emerging as the biggest party.
Labour lost control of South Lanarkshire, a traditional Labour stronghold. The SNP are now the largest party in 10 out of 32local authorities. In addition, Aberdeen, Argyll and Bute, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Highland, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian all have SNP councillors in a ruling coalition
Only Glasgow and North Lanarkshire have Labour controlled local authorities. In councils such as Edinburgh and West Lothian, coalitions have been formed to exclude Labour. It seems that after years of Labour rule, other parties are no ganging up on Labour.
On the other hand, in East Dunbartonshire, Labour and the Tories have formed a coalition to keep out the SNP! What STV is providing is an entirely new style of politics. Parties which used to be sworn enemies of each other are now finding common ground. Parties, chiefly Labour, who used to take ruling alone for granted now have to work with other parties. Perhaps at the next set of Council elections, hopefully on a different day from the Scottish parliament elections, voters will be even more informed of the possibilities of STV voting.
They may makeeven more educated decisions about who they will vote for. It should be remembered that STV does not always result in coalitions. Glasgow and North Lanarkshire remain Labour controlled. But, even in Glasgow, it is likely that the five Green councillors, the 22 SNP Councillors, the five Liberal Democrats and, amazingly for Glasgow, wait for it, a Conservativecouncillor,will provide livelier opposition than in the past.
Student Activities
1.Why did the Labour Party benefit from the previous FPTP voting system?
2.Why did Labour agree to using the STV for local council elections?
3. What evidence is there that STV does not always favour the Liberal Democrats?
4. Why might the Scottish local elections of 2007 result in a new style of politics?
Revision of Voting Systems Topic
Proportional representation is not an abstract debate. It is not a case of do we keep the First The Post Voting system or do we bring in a system of PR? PR is here already!