Representation, Elections, and Voting

Representation

• Trusteeship
• Delegation
• Mandate
• Resemblance

Elections

• Functions of elections
• Electoral Systems
• Pluralitarian / Majoritarian Systems
• Proportional Representation Systems
• Mixed Systems

Voting Behaviour

• Party-identification Model
• Sociological Model
• Rational Choice Model
• Dominant Ideology Model
Representation

• Who should be represented?

• Who should represent?
• How can one represent another?
Representation

• Do representatives ‘know better’ than the people?

• Do representatives, have somehow ‘been instructed’ by the people what
to do and how to behave?
• Do they ‘look like’ the people, in that they broadly reflect their
characteristics or features?
Theories of Representation IV
• Resemblance Model
• A microcosm of larger society (social class, gender, age
etc.)
• Descriptive representation
• If you are not member of a group, can you still represent
their interest?
Theories of Representation I

• Trustee Model
• A person who acts on behalf of others, using his/her superior
knowledge & Mature judgement
• Associated with Edmund Burke and also John Stuart Mill (plural
voting)
• Elitist
• Why should we trust politicians to act on a sense of broad social
responsibility?
• How about the interests of politicians?
Theories of Representation II
• Delegate Model
• Representatives conveying the views of others like ambassadors
• Politicians should be closely bound to the views of represented
• Frequent interchange
• Initiatives & recall in addition to regular elections and short terms
in office
• Clash between represented constituency interest and the interest
of the nation as a whole
Referendums, initiatives, recalls

• In referendums, ‘a mass electorate votes on some public issue’

• Initiatives: Referendums that take place by the request of a certain number of voters
• If the required number of people signs a petition to have a referendum (on raising a
legislation, amending the constitution, or rejecting a bill and so on) then the referendum
takes place)
• Frequent in Switzerland, also the Netherlands and Italy have initiatives as well
• Recalls: Elections where voters remove an elected person from office
• Critics file a petition outlining their reasons to recall a politician and gather enough signatures
supporting the recall by a deadline
• 500 attempts to recall public officials (including school boards, state legislators, mayors) in the
US in 2021 (Economist, What are recall elections, 2021, September 11)
Theories of Representation III
• Mandate Model
• Party gains a popular mandate in winning the election that
authorizes to implement policies outlined during the election
campaign
• Ignores other factors that can intervene in vote choice such as
emotions, leader charisma…
• Manifesto commitments are on a wide set of issues: Is a vote for
the entire manifesto?
• How about unforeseen events?
Elections & Their Functions

• Bottom-up functions of elections

• Recruitment of politicians
• Making governments
• Providing representation
• Influencing policy
Elections & Their Functions

• Top-down functions
• Building legitimacy
• Shaping public opinion
Electoral systems

The set of rules that structure how votes are cast at elections and how these votes are then converted into
the allocation of offices
Electoral Systems – Constituency /District

Single Member Multi Member

Districts Districts
Plurality Single Transferable Vote
Two Round System Party List Proportional
Alternative Vote Representation (PR)
Preferential List PR
Open List PR
Single-member
plurality system

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G
2ljLsg9UFk
SMD Plurality

• Encourages two-party • Disproportionality is high, third

systems & offers a clear-cut parties wither away
choice for voters • Except for geographically
• Single party governments concentrated ones
are common, opposition is • Fewer women & minority
coherent representation in parliament
• Closer relationship between • Geographical representation at the
MPs and voters expense of national issues
• Boundaries of districts? • Gerrymandering
Second Ballot System (2 Round System)

• To win on the first ballot, a candidate needs an overall

majority of the votes cast
• If no candidate gains a first-ballot majority, a second (run-off)
ballot is held between the leading candidates
• TRS gives voters a second chance to revise their vote in
between 2 rounds
• Encourages diverse interests to coalesce behind successful
candidates
• Encourages party fragmentation especial in the first round, and
coalition formation for the second round
 Alternative Vote
System
• Winning candidates must gain 50 % of the
votes
• Voters rank the candidates in order of
preference: 1 for their first preference, 2 for
their second preference and so on.
• Votes are counted according to the first
preferences. If no candidate reaches 50 %, the
bottom candidate is eliminated and his or her
votes are redistributed according to the
second (or subsequent) preferences.
• This continues until one candidate has a
majority
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whYFjkCZHI8
Closed List PR (Party List PR)

• Districts include multi members: entire country can be a single

constituency, or administrative boundaries can be used
• 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 & fill these seats from their party list
• A ‘threshold’ may be imposed
Closed List PR (Party List PR)
• Encourages multiparty system
• Coalition governments are common
• Restricts voters’ ability to hold governments accountable
• Fragmented parliament (with many parties)
• Extremist parties emerge easily
• Incentive to campaign on national issues rather than district-level
or geographically focused issues
• Weak relations between voters and MPs
 Preferential List
PR
• Very similar to Party-List PR
• Voters can prefer 1 or more
candidates
• If the candidate achieves a
threshold of party vote, he/she gets
elected regardless of list rank
• Thus, the voters have the power to
change the ranking of party list
 Mixed Member
Systems
• A proportion of seats (50 % in Germany,
but more Scotland and Wales, for instance)
are filled by the Plurality formula using
single-member constituencies
• The remaining seats are filled using the
party-list PR system
• Electors cast two votes: one for a
candidate in their constituency election,
and the other for a party
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JamSJ_yguqc
Mixed Member System

• Best of two worlds?

• In the nominal tier: a close relationship between voters and their
representatives
• Fair representation due to the list PR
• Greater choice to voters
• The option to split the votes between parties in PR and Plurality tiers
• Two classes of representatives/legislators
• one group primarily responsible and beholden to a constituency
• another from the national party list without geographical ties
Democratic Values…

• Fair Representation
• Does it represent geographical locations fairly?
• Does it represent parties fairly?
• Does it represent marginalized groups fairly?
• Encouraging Political Parties
• Mechanism to resolve & manage conflicts
• Does it make inclusive appeals for electoral support for
contestants outside their own core vote base?
Democratic Values…

• Individual Representative Accountability

• Can voters effectively check representatives who betray the
promises they made during the campaign or demonstrate
incompetence or idleness in office ?
• Government Accountability
• Can voters influence the shape of the government, either by
altering the coalition of parties in power or by throwing out of
office a single party which has failed to deliver?
• Facilitating Stable and Efficient System
• Promoting Legislative Opposition & Oversight
Voter Turnout & Compulsory Voting
Voter Turnout, Economic Development &
Compulsory Voting

Souce:
Caramani (2019)
Voter Turnout,
Economic Development
& Compulsory Voting

Souce:
Caramani (2019)
Turkish Electoral Systems Over Time

Time Period Electoral Rule Details

1950-1954 Plurality in Multi Member Districts Voters can make mixed list with
independents and candidates from other
parties

1954-60 Plurality in Multi Member Districts Party slate instead of mixed lists

1961-1965 PR System, d’Hondt Formula With district threshold

1965 PR System, with two tiers No threshold
Hare Quota (Total Votes/ Total
Seats)
1968-1979 PR System, d’Hondt Formula No electoral threshold (CC verdict)
Turkish Electoral Systems Over Time

Time Period Electoral Rule Details

1983 PR System, d’Hondt Formula 10 % National Threshold, District level threshold
Maximum District Size: 7
1987-1991 PR System with a Majoritarian Maximum District Size: 6
tier (first seat in districts with
DM >5), d’Hondt Formula
1995-2022 PR system, d’Hondt Formula Maximum District Size: 18
(provinces between 19-32 divided into 2,
between 36 and more divided into 3 districts)

Majoritarian tier is eliminated

No district threshold (CC verdict in 1995)

National electioral threshold 10%

2022 PR system, d’Hondt Formula Electoral Threshold 7%
Preference Vote in Turkish Elections

Time Period Electoral Rule Details

1961 Referential PR Multiple preference (at least half of the seats in
the district)
1973 &1975 Preferential PR Multiple preference depending on the district size
Allocation: depending on the district sizze,
preference vote >= party vote in that district /2 –
6

1973: 4 MPs elected by Preference vote

1991 Preferential PR System with a Preference for 1 candidate
Majoritarian tier (first seat in Preference vote candidate >=%15 of party vote in
districts with DM >5), d’Hondt a district
Formula 1991: 55 MPs elected by Preference vote
Discussion Questions

• Why should we vote at all?

• Are referenda, initiatives, and recalls good tools for better
representation?
Voting Behavior

• Why do people vote the way they do?

• Short term factors:
• The state of economy (unemployment, inflation, disposable income)
• Optimism about one’s own material prospects (feel-good effect)
• Political cycles: Politicians create pre-election booms in the
economy to increase their chances to win
• Change in party leadership
Theories of Voting

• Party-Identification Model:
• voters are seen as people who identify with a party
• Voting is therefore an expression of partisanship
• Early political socialization
• Weakness: increased partisan dealignment
• Rise in the Independents in the US (almost half of voters=
• Decline in support for traditional parties
Theories of Voting

• Sociological Model:
• links voting behaviour to group membership
• Divisions/ groups: class, gender, ethnicity, religion, sects, or region
• Party ideologies – speaking to class groups
• Weakness: empirical evidence showing the link between social
groups and party support has weakened increased partisan
dealignment
• Eg: Non-manual workers > manual workers in 1997 for Labour in the UK
Theories of Voting

• Rational Choice Model:

• Emphasis on the individual
• Personal self-interest determines the party preference
• Retrospective
• Voters base their decision on the performance of government
• Active voters
• Voters as consumers, pick among available policy options (issue
voting)
• Parties can revise their policies to get elected
• Weakness: attention to the contextual factors is neglected
Theories of Voting

• Dominant Ideology Model:

• The degree to which individual choices are shaped through
manipulation and control
• Education, media are tools whereby governments manipulate and
control individual decision making
• Weakness: individual autonomy is neglected