Defending the Majoritarian System

1433 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: united states electoral system

The United States has gone through forty-four elections, all of the presidents were chosen by the majoritarian system, and they have effectively worked out how to run the State. However, people are always thinking about how to improve the voting system to be more suitable for our economy, and how a different style of voting could benefit the United States. This sheds light into new systems to elect our leaders, but the result can be severe. Since the most important voting system of all, the system to vote for the president, has changed, every other voting system is in debate for whether to adopt the new system or not. Voting on anything, from as simple as deciding where to eat to electing the president of a company, can be made more complicated because there exists two voting systems. There would be much more conflicts but not convenience in developing a new voting system. So the majoritarian system should not be replaced by a new system.
Two of the most common kinds of voting systems, according to Pippa Norris, are the “Majoritarian System” and the “Proportional Representation System” . In the majoritarian system, the candidate must gain a plurality of the votes to win. Every citizen has a number of votes that coordinates with the number of chairs. For example, a district can have five representatives, thus citizens will choose five candidates on the ballot. The winning candidate doesn’t have to get more than fifty-percent, he or she just have to get more than the competitors. The proportional representation system is the main rival of the majoritarian system, and is currently used in many European countries such as Germany, Italy and Denmark. In this system, the different parties each get their number of seats according to the p...

... middle of paper ...

...ving on Gerrymandering and voter ID.

Works Cited

J.H. “Snatching the baton” http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/02/italys-government?zid=307&ah=5e80419d1bc9821ebe173f4f0f060a07.
Chrisn Houston
Michael Cloud “So you think you’re “wasting your vote”?” http://www.centerforsmallgovernment.com/small-government-news/so-you-think-youre-wasting-your-vote/.
Pippa Norris “Choosing Electoral Systems: Proportional, Majoritarian and Mixed Systems” < http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/pnorris/Acrobat/Choosing%20Electoral%20Systems.pdf>.
Fox News.com “Hundreds of cases of potential voter fraud uncovered in North Carolina” http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/03/hundreds-cases-potential-voter-fraud-uncovered-in-north-carolina.

Show More
Related

  • The Electoral College Vs. Popular Vote

    1203 Words  | 3 Pages

    By dismembering the Electoral College and replacing it with popular vote, some Americans believe this would eradicate any further issues on who is placed in office, while others want a system to do the dirty work and select their future leader. But by eliminating the very system created to keep the states at peace, the Electoral College has, in fact, caused turmoil and confusion among the people in regards to American politics; many people have a sense of displacement and lack of care for politics due to the mindset that someone else is in charge and their voice does not matter. Allowing the American people to cast their choice for who takes care of their future and eliminating the middle man ideals of the Electoral College, government can give back to its people in ways they might not have thought about before. They give the people a voice, choice, and a sense of personal expression and

    Read More

  • Canada Should Adopt Proportional Representation

    1987 Words  | 4 Pages

    A proportionate electoral system (otherwise known as proportional representation or PR) grants its voters a voice in their vote. The way that the PR system works is that for every percentage of votes a party receives, they will be granted around the same percentage of seats in parliament. For example, if a party receives 35% of the votes, they would receive 35% of the seats in legislature. This is important for Canada because it gives smaller parties a better chance of retaining a seat. There are many different varieties of PR, due to the fact that at often times, the voting percentages do not evenly translate into the number of seats available (King, 2000). For instance, if a party receive 33.6% of the vote, they can’ receive 33.6% of seats. Because of this, numerous variations of the PR system have been created. The most common...

    Read More

  • Should British Elections Use Proportional Representation?

    1963 Words  | 4 Pages

    In this essay I will argue that British General Elections should be conducted using a system of Proportional Representation. First, I will argue that the system would be more democratic as every vote that is cast would be represented and this ...

    Read More

  • Report on Winner-Take-All

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Winner-take-all” is a term used to describe single member district and at large election systems that award seats to the highest vote getters without ensuring fair representation for minority groups. In the United States, these are typically single-member district schemes or at-large, block-voting systems. Under winner-take-all rules, a slim majority of voters can control 100% of seats, leaving everyone else effectively without representation.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Abolishing The Electoral College

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    The fact that the popular vote holds no power to whom becomes president shows that only some of the people have the power. This seems like a sign that our own government doesn’t have faith in the population to make an educated decision on who should become president. The way smaller states votes are more important than bigger states, shows that states are still not equal in power. The way to win the presidency is more of a strategy than having the ideas to be elected. An example of this is how the electoral college elected George Bush when Al Gore won the popular vote. George Bush is said to be one of the United States worst presidents and was elected through a thought to be flawed system. I also feel as though corruption plays a role in the electoral college compared to the popular vote being authentic. I think this should be replaced with a system of electronic voting that could accurately and clearly show who the majority of the population voted for. But I also think that some sort of requirements to vote should be enacted. Education plays a big role in politics and I feel as though there are people who just vote to be voting with no kind of background knowledge. As bad as it sounds I feel like it could narrow a better decision being made than smaller, less developed states being “mind controlled” into voting for

    Read More

  • Electoral College Dbq

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Electoral College has been the favored method by the United States to elect the president for many years. When the College was first created in 1787 it was seen as an efficient and reliable way to vote the president into office. It has been more than 2 centuries since this method of electing was chosen, and many things have changed in U.S. society. The Electoral College is failing to keep up with these advancements in society and a new method must be chosen soon. Throughout the almost 2 and a half centuries since the beginning of the Electoral College there has been a large change in population.

    Read More

  • Canada Needs Proportional Representation

    1686 Words  | 4 Pages

    One may be surprised to learn that the turnout rate of individuals voting in Canada's federal elections has never reached 80% (Elections Canada). In fact, it has been decreasing since the middle of the twentieth century, as shown by an increase in voter apathy. An electoral system is designed to provide those who live in democratic governments with the opportunity to vote – in an election – for the candidate whose platform coincides with their political beliefs. This can be achieved through a direct democracy, where citizens are directly involved in the decision-making process, or through an indirect democracy, where citizens elect a delegate to act on their behalf. In a direct democracy, all citizens would be present during governmental meetings and have the opportunity to give verbal input. As one may expect, this would be extremely difficult to coordinate with Canada's population of 34.88 billion (Statistics Canada). Canada uses an indirect democracy, which allows for two basic forms of electoral systems in which representatives are elected. In the simple plurality electoral system, the candidate who receives the greatest number of votes is elected, regardless of a majority or not. It is commonly known as the “first-past-the-post” system, which alludes to a horse race; the winner passes the post with the highest number of votes, and only need to garner more votes than their opponents. The successful candidate wins all the seats in their riding or constituency while the candidates who places second or third will receive no seats, regardless of how many votes they lose by. Proportional representation is the second form of electoral system used in Canada; the percentage of the votes received by a party is proportionate to the numb...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On The Electoral College

    1115 Words  | 3 Pages

    The United States of America is often touted as the guiding beacon of democracy for the entirety of the modern world. In spite of this tremendous responsibility the political system of the United States retains some aspects which upon examination appear to be significantly undemocratic. Perhaps the most perplexing and oft misunderstood of these establishments is the process of electing the president and the institution known as the Electoral College. The puzzle of the Electoral College presents the American people with a unique conundrum as the mark of any true democracy is the citizens’ ability to elect their own ruling officials. Unfortunately, the Electoral College system dilutes this essential capacity by introducing an election by

    Read More

  • Electoral College Argumentative Essay

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    Voting is at the center of every democratic system. In america, it is the system in which a president is elected into office, and people express their opinion. Many people walk into the voting booth with the thought that every vote counts, and that their vote might be the one that matters above all else. But in reality, America’s voting system is old and flawed in many ways. Electoral College is a commonly used term on the topic of elections but few people actually know how it works.

    Read More

  • Electoral College Persuasive Essay

    1347 Words  | 3 Pages

    In fact, the Constitution contains provisions for direct and indirect election of the different parts of the legislature and the executive, based on overlapping but distinct electorates (Muller 1251). In addition, many people believe that, the Electoral College process of electing the president necessitates replacement with a direct popular vote to honor our democratic form of government in the United States. Moreover, in a democratic form of government, the authority rests with the people rather than in one or a few as in a totalitarian or authoritarian form of government. People believe a direct election supports the 14th Amendment principle of “one person, one vote” (Wagner 577). Therefore, the winner-take-all system inaccurately represents the will of the American citizens since not all candidates garner any electoral votes. On the other hand, a popular vote for the president could lead to many runoffs if neither candidate reaches a majority, creating a bigger opportunity for voter fraud and manipulation of the vote, which would not truly represent the will of the people, states, or country. The Electoral College sometimes fails to represent the national popular vote because states use the winner-take-all approach and not some proportional method for the representation of its voters. However, the Founding Fathers were not too keen on

    Read More

  • Canada's Electoral System

    1906 Words  | 4 Pages

    Karp, J. A. (2006). Political knowledge about electoral rules: Comparing mixed member proportional systems in Germany and New Zealand. Electoral Studies, 25(4), 714-730.

    Read More

  • Scottish Devolution

    1471 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...s vote for a party instead for an individual, and when the votes are tallied for the region the regional representative seats for that region are divided among the parties in proportion to the share of the vote that each party received.

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Canada's Electoral System

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    The authors describe some of the advantages of a MMP system: “Mixed electoral systems provide fairly proportional outcomes, maintain the geographic link between constituents and members, provide for greater choice, and allow the opportunity for smaller parties to represented in Parliament” (p. 11). This system works better than the current FPTP or plurality system, because it allows citizen’s a second opportunity to have a voice. This is important because it would allow our minority groups to have a greater political influence. As mentioned earlier, in the current system all votes for candidates who lost, were insignificant to the election outcome. The authors explain: “Only those votes that go to the eventual winner count towards electing a representative, which may discourage people from voting or promote disaffection with the system” (p. 3). Alternatively, the MMP system allows citizen’s a second opportunity to elect party members in order to proportionally represent the popular

    Read More

  • First Past the Post versus Proportional Representation Voting Systems

    1281 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dinkin, M., and White, I.2008. Voting system in UK. Library of House of Commons: Parliament and Constitution Centre. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/files/108_icpr_final.pdf (accessed November 20, 2010)

    Read More

  • Dominant Party System in Malaysia

    656 Words  | 2 Pages

    In a dominant- party system, a single party wins approximately 60 percent or more of the seats in legislature and two or more other parties usually win less than 40 percent of the seat. Opposition parties in dominant-party system are free to contest elections. The dominant parties have to compete for votes to maintain its power or to gain power. This democratic competition imposes a check and balance on the government of the day, promotes transparency and accountability and ensures that service delivery to the people are prioritized or it will be given the boot.

    Read More

More about Defending the Majoritarian System

Open Document