What criteria should guide electoral system choice? Reasoning from principles What do we mean by principles? choices determined by principles -- not vice versa Criteria from New Zealand, Ontario and IDEA Each of these examples offer similarity and difference Some of these principles are outcome and some are design features all of them are contested Fairness between political parties the number of seats gained should be proportional to the number of voters who support that party Effective representation of minority and special interest groups the House should reflect characteristics of the electorate such as gender, ethnicity socio-economic class, locality and age
Effective Maori representation Maori and the Maori point of view should be represented in the Parliament Political integration While the electoral system should ensure that the opinions of diverse groups and interests are represented it should at the same time encourage all groups to respect other points of view and to take into account the good of the community as a whole. Effective representation of constituents the voting system should encourage close links and accountability between individual MPs and their constituents Effective voter participation If individual citizens are to play a full and active part in the electoral process, the voting system should provide them with mechanisms and procedures which they can readily understand. At the same time, the power to make and unmake governments should be in the hands of the people at an election and the votes of all electors should be of equal weight in influencing election results. Effective government governments should have the ability to act decisively when that is appropriate and there should be reasonable continuity and stability within and between governments
Effective Parliament the voting system should encourage a forum for the promotion of alternative governments, enacting legislation, authorizing and raising taxes, scrutinizing the executive Effective parties the voting system should recognise and facilitate the essential role political parties play in modern representative democracies in, for example, formulating and articulating policies and representatives for the people Legitimacy members of the community should be able to endorse the voting system and its procedures as fair and reasonable and to accept its decisions, even when they themselves prefer other alternatives Ontario Select Committee on Electoral Reform (& Ontario Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform) Legitimacy Fairness of Representation Voter Choice Effective Parties Stable & Effective Government Effective Parliament Stronger Voter Participation Accountability Legitimacy The electoral system should have the confidence of Ontarians and reflect their values
an electoral system must inspire confidence in its process and results Fairness of representation The Legislative Assembly should reflect the population of Ontario in accordance with demographic representation, proportionality and representation by population among other factors fairness of representation can be understood in terms of whether the legislature reflects the population whether the seats a party wins is equal to the share of the vote whether all ridings represent about the same number of citizens One group that has not been well represented in parliament 30 Proportion of seats held by women 20 15 10 5 0 1984 1988 1993 1997 2000 2004 2006 2008 Voter choice An electoral system should promote voter choice in terms of quantity and quality of options available to voters
To put it another way... choice can be understood in terms of quality (e.g., ideological differences) or quantity (e.g. number of parties or candidates) Effective parties Political parties should be able to structure public debate, mobilize and engage the electorate, and develop policy alternatives. whether parties are effective, depends on what we think they should do and how they should do it Stable and effective government The electoral system should contribute to continuity of government, and governments should be able to develop and implement their agendas and take decisive action when required. influence what form of government citizens get stability can take many forms
Different kinds of government: Opposition NDP Government Liberals 10 Conservatives 65 Different kinds of government: Opposition NDP Greens 10 Conservatives 35 Government LIberals 30 Different kinds of government: Opposition Green 10 Government NDP 30 Conservatives 35 Liberals Different kinds of government: Opposition NDP 30 Greens 10 Government Conservatives 35 Liberals Effective parliament The legislative assembly should contain a government, an opposition and should be able to perform its parliamentary functions successfully.
we need to understand what effective means and by what standard it is measured when does a parliament become too large to be effective? Stronger voter participation Ontario s electoral system should promote voter participation as well as engagement with the broader democratic process To put it another way... participation in elections is dependent on a number of things; the electoral system is merely one element influence parties, as well as individuals Accountability Ontario voters should be able to identify decision-makers and hold them to account To put it another way... do we value accountability of individual members or accountability of government or both?
The Ontario Citizens Assembly members also chose another principle.. an electoral system should be simple, practical and understandable to the public Criteria from IDEA Handbook Provide representation Make elections accessible & meaningful Provide incentives for conciliation Facilitate stable & effective government Hold individual representatives accountable Criteria from IDEA Handbook Encourage political parties Promote legislative opposition and oversight Make the election process sustainable Take into account international standards