Britain's Electoral System

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Recommended: British political system short note

The change of electoral system of Britain from first-past-the-post to form of proportional representation caused discussions and argues in the whole country. Does new system inspirit and change course to better or lead to weak and indecisive government? Whereas first-past-the-post developed stable majorities in parliament, there are always was a lack of suffer from grave shortcomings, for example majority of population remains unrepresented in government bodies, and a party, which wins less voices in selection than their contestants, can be represented by more seats. Nation is looking forward to see the fairness and progress of parliamentary works of country, which can be motivated by advantageousness of proportional representation. However, there are still many people who think critically about this newness. As said, all that glitters is not gold, proportional representation also has its disadvantages, so people, relying on them, are against to change from first-past-the-post.

The system of majority, which is used in Great Britain, is simple, understandable and conceptual. First-past-the-post is “winner takes it all” system, when candidates or political party are selected to parliament by majority of votes according to electoral districts where they are standing. One of the strongest advantages of FPTP is that there is close connection between constituents and their representatives. Furthermore, election provides people with open contest, where not just faceless lists, but candidates, whose personalities not indifferent for voters. In addition, first-post-the-post embraces single party government which could be base of stable, effective operating regime, if it will be lead by big, good organized political parties, which can eas...

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...u, Adrian. 2004. "Fairness and Electoral Reform." British Journal of Politics & International Relations 6, no. 2: 165-181. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 27, 2010).

Keegan M. 2005. UK Electoral Systems. http://mk.ucant.org/info/ukconst/electoral_systems.html (accessed November 2, 2010)

Kurrild-Klitgaard, Peter. 2008. "Voting Paradoxes under Proportional Representation: Evidence from Eight Danish Elections." Scandinavian Political Studies 31, no. 3: 242-267. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 27, 2010).

Travers, Tony. 2009. "Time for change? Electoral politics after the local and European elections." Public Policy Research 16, no. 2: 91-96. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed October 27, 2010).

Trueman C. n.d. British Politics. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/first_past_the_post.htm (accessed November 2, 2010)

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