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You are here: Home → Encyclopaedia → Topic Areas → Electoral Systems → The Systems and Their Consequences → Plurality/Majority Systems

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"Plurality/Majority Systems" on one page

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Electoral Systems Overview of Electoral Systems Guiding Principles of Electoral Systems Context of Electoral Systems Criteria for Design Providing Representation Making Elections Accessible and Meaningful Providing Incentives for Conciliation Facilitating Stable and Efficient Government Holding the Government Accountable Holding Individual Representatives Accountable Encouraging Political Parties Promoting Legislative Opposition and Oversight Making the Election Process Workable and Sustainable Taking into Account 'International Standards' Criteria for Design - Conclusions The Process of Change Who designs? What are the Mechanisms for Reform and Amendment? Advice on Debate and Dialogue Advice on Implementation Assessing the Impact of Change Trends in Electoral System Reform Design Components The Systems and Their Consequences Plurality/Majority Systems First Past The Post (FPTP) First Past The Post (FPTP) Advantages and disadvantages of FPTP system Block Vote (BV) Block Vote (BV) Advantages and disadvantages of BV Party Block Vote (PBV) Party Block Vote (PBV) Advantages and disadvantages of PBV The Alternative Vote (AV) The Alternative Vote (AV) Advantages and disadvantages of AV The Two-Round system (TRS) The Two-Round system (TRS) Advantages and disadvantages of Two-Round System (TRS) Proportional Representation (PR) Advantages of PR systems Disadvantages of PR systems List PR List PR Advantages and disadvantages of List PR The Single Transferable Vote (STV) The Single Transferable Vote (STV) Advantages and disadvantages of STV Proportional representation related issues Proportional representation related issues District Magnitude The Threshold Open, Closed and Free Lists Apparentement Independent Candidates and PR systems Mixed Systems Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) Advantages and Disadvantages of MMP Parallel Systems Advantages and disadvantages of Parallel systems Other Electoral Systems The Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) The Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) Advantages and disadvantages of SNTV The Limited Vote (LV) The Limited Vote (LV) Advantages & Disadvantages of Limited Vote Borda Count (BC) Advantages & Disadvantages of BC Electoral System Tiers and Hybrid Systems Considerations on Representation Representation of Women Representation of Minorities Communal Representation The timing of Elections Remote Voting Turnout Issues Additional Issues Relevant to Post-conflict and Transitional Elections Electoral Systems, Institutional Framework & Governance Electing a President Electing a President - First Past The Post Electing a President - Two-Round Systems Electing a President - Preferential Voting Electing a President - Distribution Requirements Electing an Upper House Different Tiers of Governance Electing Supranational Bodies Electing Federal/State Assemblies and Autonomous Jurisdictions Electing Local Authorities Electoral Systems and Political Parties Direct Democracy Options Referendum Referendum Common types of Referendums Design and Political issues of Referendums Advantages and disadvantages of the referendum instrument Citizens' Initiatives Citizens' Initiatives Different types of Citizens' initiative Design and Political Issues Advantages and disadvantages of the citizens’ initiative instrument Recall Recall Design and Political issues of Recalls Advantages and disadvantages of the recall instrument Cost and Administrative Implications of Electoral Systems Electoral Systems and the Drawing of Electoral Boundaries Electoral Systems and the Registration of Voters Electoral Systems and the Design and Production of Ballot Papers Electoral Systems and Voter Education Electoral Systems and Number of Polling Days Electoral Systems and By-elections Electoral Systems and the Count Cost and administrative implications - conclusions Advice for Electoral Systems Designers A Design Checklist Electoral Systems Case Studies Argentina Australia: The Alternative Vote System Bolivia: Electoral Reform in Latin America Brazil: Candidate-Centred PR in a Presidential System Canada: The Canadian Electoral System British Columbia: Empowered Citizen Participation Switzerland Swiss Direct Democracy Chile: A System Frozen by Elite Interests China: Village Committee Elections: First Steps on a Long March? Germany: The Original Mixed Member Proportional System Ecuador: The Search for Democratic Governance European Parliament: Elections to a Supranational Body The Spanish Electoral System - Historical Accident Finland: Candidate Choice and Party Proportionality Indonesia: Continuity, Deals and Consensus Republic of Ireland: The Single Transferable Vote in Action Israel: Electoral Reform in Israel India - First Past the Post on a Grand Scale Jordan - Electoral System Design in the Arab World Japan: Adapting to a New Electoral System Kyrgyzstan: Electoral Manipulation in Central Asia Sri Lanka: Changes to Accommodate Diversity Lesotho: Africa’s First MMP Electoral System Mali: A Two-Round System in Africa Malta: STV With Some Twists Mexico: Democratization Through Electoral Reform Namibia - National List PR in Southern Africa The Netherlands New Zealand: Learning to Live with Proportional Representation Papua New Guinea: Electoral Incentives for Inter-Ethnic Accomodation Poland: Between Fragmentation and Polarisation Palestine: Political Realities Shape the System Russia - An Evolving Parallel System Senegal:A Parallel System in Africa Thailand: Combating Corruption through Electoral Reform Ukraine - The Perils of Majoritarianism in a New Democracy United Kingdom: Electoral System Experimentation in Cradle of FPTP United States: Ethnic Minorities and Single-Member Districts United States: Total Recall - the election of Schwarzenegger in California South Africa: Electoral Systems, Conflict Management and Inclusion Contributors to Electoral Systems Electoral Systems Glossary Bibliography

Plurality/Majority Systems

The principle of plurality/majority systems is simple. After votes have been cast and totalled, those candidates or parties with the most votes are declared the winners (there may also be additional conditions). However, the way this is achieved in practice varies widely.

Five varieties of plurality/majority systems can be identified:

First Past The Post (FPTP),
Block Vote (BV),
Party Block Vote(PBV),
Alternative Vote (AV), and
the Two-Round System (TRS).

In an FPTP system (sometimes known as a plurality single-member district system) the winner is the candidate with the most votes but not necessarily an absolute majority of the votes. When this system is used in multi-member districts, it becomes the Block Vote. Voters have as many votes as there are seats to be filled, and the highest-polling candidates fill the positions regardless of the percentage of the vote they achieve. This system—with the change that voters vote for party lists instead of individual candidates—becomes the Party Block Vote.

Majoritarian systems, such as the Alternative Vote and the Two-Round System, try to ensure that the winning candidate receives an absolute majority (i.e. over 50 per cent). Each system in essence makes use of voters’ second preferences to produce a winner with an absolute majority if one does not emerge from the first round of voting.

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Variants of the Alternative Vote

Posted by Robert Bristow-Johnson at Aug 16, 2010 11:01 AM

This chapter should be more complete and clear about different methods of tabulating the ranked-order ballot associated with what is often called the "Alternative Vote" or "Preferential Voting" or "Ranked-Choice Voting" or, in the U.S. "Instant Runoff Voting". The ranked-order ballot can also be tabulated using other methods than STV such as some Condorcet method or even Borda or Bucklin, even though I would not recommend the latter two. But there needs to be more education regarding these other methods, particularly Condorcet which does not suffer many of the disadvantages of STV.

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The Systems and Their Consequences

First Past The Post (FPTP)

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