Like the United States, the United Kingdom is known for having low voter turnout rates. In the United Kingdom, the last general election was in 2017 in which 68.93% of voters turn out to the polls, similar to a relatively low number compared to other democracies. The set up of the United Kingdom electoral system may be a factor that has played into the country's low voter turnout rate. Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom operate similarly to how parliamentary elections operate in the United State. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 constituencies, which all have a similar number of inhabitants. Each constituency is represented by one member of parliament who has a seat in the House of Commons, the UK's lower chamber of parliament. …show more content…
85.89% of Denmark's population voted in the 2015 parliamentary election, the makeup of Denmark's electoral system may help to explain why the turnout is so high.The Danish electoral system for the unicameral parliament of Kingdom of Denmark, the Folketing, is based on proportional representation. That means the nationwide popular vote determines how many seats each party receives in the Folketing ( parliament ). For instance, if a party garners 20% of the overall popular vote, it receives 20% of the seats in parliament. No vote is wasted in Denmark, Denmark has had a unicameral (single-chamber) parliament since 1953. The parliament has 179 members: 175 are elected in Denmark, two in the Faroe Island and two in Greenland. The country is divided into 10 multi-member constituencies Each constituency is assigned a set number of seats. A total of 135 seats are distributed in proportion to the votes in each constituency. The other 40 seats are supplementary and allotted to balance any difference between district-level results and the nationwide vote share. In Denmark, there is no single majority, to ensure proportionality, about one quarter of all seats are distributed after the initial count in accordance with the national popular vote; This is meant to ensure that the number of seats each party secures matches as closely as possible each party's vote share, in accordance with Denmark's constitution which requires not only regional representation but "equal representation of the various opinions of the
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...
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 ...
Curtis, J., Fisher S., Lessard-Philips L. 2007.Proportional Representation and disappearing voter. British Social Attitudes: Perspectives on a changing society, ed. A.Park 119-25. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
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...
The Denmark Government is a constitutional monarchy system. The government of Denmark is based on the parliamentary system and it is representative democratic. The head of government is controlled by the Prime Minister. Denmark is a multi-party system so that there is no single party since the beginning of the 20th century in Denmark. The parties members will be represent their parties in the parliament. Hence, the Danish parliament tends to be more powerful than legislatures in others countries. The constitution of the Denmark is not grant to the judiciary power of judicial review of legislation; however the courts have asserted this power with the consent of the other branches of government. Moreover, the government of Denmark has two arms, the government and the Folketing. The choice of the candidates depends on the majority votes of the person who has received from the respective constituency and also on his local connection. However, the change of political system has started when Fogh Rasmussen has won his first general election on 20 November 2001 and became the Prime Minister...
"Miller light and bud light…either way you end up with a mighty weak beer!" This is how Jim Hightower (a Texan populist speaker) described the choices that the U.S. electorate had in the 2000 elections. This insinuates that there is a clear lack of distinction between the parties. Along with numerous others, this is one of the reasons why the turnout is so low in the U.S. elections. In trying to explain the low figures at the U.S. elections, analysts have called American voters apathetic to indifferent to downright lazy. I disagree that the 50% (in recent elections) of voters that fail to turnout to vote are lazy and that they have just reason not too. I will also show that the problem lies within the system itself in that the institutional arrangements, electoral and governmental, do not create an environment that is conducive to mass participation. I will address these main issues and several others that have an effect on voter participation. In doing so I will compare America to other established democracies.
The United States national elections have been experiencing a steady decline of eligible voters showing up to vote. This steady decline has been ongoing since experiencing a significant increase in voter turnout from 1948 through 1960. Over the years there has been significant, meticulous research done to try to pinpoint the cause of the decline in voter turnout over years. All of this research has led to the production of an enormous number of literatures written on the perceived causes. The vast amount of literature produced has led to a number of competing explanations about this decline. The quest for the answer to the question of, why this decline in voter turnout, is very important for an overwhelming majority of Americans and our democratic system because the people/voters can only truly be represented by our government if all eligible voters go out and vote. For this paper I will examine four theories that attempt to explain the decline. The four theories that I will discuss are voting barriers, campaign contributions, negative campaign advertising, and finally the cultural explanation. However, through thorough exploration and critiques of the strengths and weaknesses of these four theories, we will find that the cultural explanation theory is currently the most persuasive theory in the group. Finally, I will also explore some reasons as to why citizens do vote as well.
According to a study done by Nonprofit Vote only “an estimated 58.7% of eligible voters turned out to vote” ("Voter Turnout" ) in 2012’s presidential election, which is below the 62% that was achieved in 2008. (Ginsberg 306). According to the United States Census Bureau in 2012 71.2 percent of Americans reported that they were registered to vote, but only 61.8 reported that they actually did so. ("Voting and Registration"). While each source didn’t report the exact same statistics in America these percentages are considered highs in political participation. Even worse, in midterm elections voter turnout is normally closer to 33% and even lower for any local elections. (Ginsberg 306). While we may consider any of those statistics good for America, looking at world democracies we are trailing far behind, in many “European countries and other western democracies [the] national voter turnout is usually between 70 to 90 percent.”(Ginsberg 306). The question is then asked why don’t American’s vote, which is then an...
To enforce voting to be mandatory , this will prompt more Americans to pay attention to the choices for their representatives. Mandating would stimulate the demand side, motivating voters to understand and acknowledge who they are voting for. Therefore , voting is to be a responsibility than a option.
Low turnout may not be an accurate reflection of the will of the people. Low turnouts can lead to unequal representation among various parts of the population. The lower the turnout, the greater the chance that the election result is not the outcome preferred by the population of potential voters. Low turnout makes it possible for minorities to defeat majorities. The most important impact of low electoral turnout is that decisions are made by a minority of the population.
...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.
Voting is one of the citizens’ rights living in a country. In the past, not everyone can vote. Voting used to be for only white American men. However, our ancestors fought for that rights. Eventually, any American who are older than eighteen can vote, despite their race or gender. In addition, voter turnout is used to keep track of the voting. It is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election. Unfortunately, the voter turnout has been decreasing over time, and it means that there are less and fewer people who actually show up and vote. This essay will discuss the voter turnout in Harris County, Texas.
The power structure of Norway is probably one of the few areas that are quite different from that of most other free countries. Norway is a constitutional monarchy. The king has limited authority, except as head of the military and as a symbol of continuity and stability. Executive power is vested in the prime minister, who presides over the dominant party in the country’s parliament (Storting). The 165 members of parliament are elected every four years. The Storting has an Upper Chamber (Lagting) and a Lower Chamber (Odelsting). The Labor, Center, and Conservative parties are the largest in parliament, but no party has a majority. Another similar note is that all citizens may vote at age 18. Norway also has 19 provinces (fylker). Norway enjoys a strong economy, and has one of the highest standards of living in the world.
Smaller nations and most parliaments follow unicameralism which consists of a single chamber. For example, New Zealand, Nordic countries such as Denmark, Iceland and Finland are unicamerals as well. [Arter 1984, 16-22 and Damgard 1992 ](Patterson, S. C., & Mughan, A. (1999) 3). This is most likely due to the fact that balance of political conflict is prevalent in smaller countries. Thus, it’s relatively more efficient to solve political issues thereby choosing unicameralism. (Mahler, Gregory S. 2008) Examples of unicameralism can be found in China, South Korea, Greece, Israel, Kenya and New Zealand. (Danziger, J. N. (1996)) (163)
Have you ever been persuaded into voting? Well, you should have your own say on where your opinion goes. Voting is a right that every citizen in America over the age of 18 can do. Many people have become aware of the fact that the number of voters had reached its all time low. But as the newest voting season comes closer, we should still have a voice and the freedom to decide what we do. Which is, take a step against making America a compulsory voting country, because it proves unnecessary and there are other alternatives than mandatory voting.