In the past, electoral systems have usually proved one of the most stable democratic institutions. Minor tinkering with the rules and regulations concerning the administration of elections has been common, including amendments to the laws governing election broadcasts, financial disclosure, or constituency redistricting. In the post-war period countries have occasionally switched electoral formulas between d'Hondt and LR-Hare, adjusted the effective threshold for election, and expanded their assembly size (Lijphart, 1994). Yet until recently wholesale and radical reform of the basic electoral system --meaning the way votes are translated into seats -- has been relatively rare. The most significant exception to this rule is France, which has vacillated between proportional and majoritarian systems. In their classic work on electoral cleavages Lipset and Rokkan (1967) described the party system in Western Europe in the 1960s as "frozen" in the mould established at the turn of the century with the enfranchisement of the working class. In a similar way, until recently electoral systems in liberal democracies seemed set in concrete. The parties in government generally favored and maintained the status quo from which they benefited. The critical voices of those parties or out-groups systematically excluded from elected office rarely proved able to amend the rules of the game.
This stability suggests that electoral systems are inherently conservative. Nevertheless institutions have the capacity to experience a radical breakdown following shocks to their external environment. In Krasner’s model of 'punctuated' equilibrium, institutions are characterized by long periods of stasis, which are interrupted by intermittent crisis, which may bring about abrupt change, after which inertia again reasserts its grip (Krasner, 1993). Where radical reforms are implemented these may produce unexpected results. For example the widespread adoption of primaries in the United States in the late sixties produced unintended consequences, or failed to achieve their initial objectives (Polsby, 1983).
In the last decade significant challenges to government legitimacy fuelled the issue of electoral reform. The issue of electoral reform has become the subject of serious debate in Britain, with all the parties except the Conservatives favoring alternative systems to first-past-the-post for different levels of government (Norris, 1995; Blackburn, 1995). In 1993, after almost a century and a half of first-past-the- post, New Zealand switched to a mixed-member system (MMS) (Vowels, 1995). New Zealand had long experienced a two-party system. In contrast 34 parties, resulting in the election of six and a coalition government, contested the first contest under MMS, held in 1996. The United States has experienced growing interest in electoral reform, generated by increasing concern about the representation of women and ethnic minorities (Rule and Zimmerman 1992), and the obstacles to third parties symbolized by Perot’s run for the presidency (Rosen stone, Beer and Lazarus 1996). Yet dissatisfaction has not been confined to majoritarian systems. In 1992 Israel introduced direct elections for the prime minister (Diskin and Diskin, 1995) while the following year Italy, long seen as an exemplar of proportional representation, adopted a mixed system after prolonged debate (Donovan, 1995).
At the same time there has been a wave of constitution-building following the explosion of new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa (Huntington, 1993). In these states the choice of an electoral system generated heated debate, which needed to be resolved before other constitutional issues could be settled. Newer democracies like Ecuador, Hungary, Russia, and Taiwan have adopted 'mixed' electoral systems, believed to combine the best of both proportional and majoritarian systems.
Therefore during the 1990s, debate about the electoral system moved from margin to mainstream on the political agenda. This shift produced growing awareness that electoral rules are not neutral: the way votes translate into seats means that some groups, parties, and representatives are ruled into the policymaking process, and some are ruled out. The core debate concerns whether countries should adopt majoritarian systems which priorities government effectiveness and accountability, or proportional systems, which promote greater fairness to minority parties and more diversity in social representation. Those dissatisfied with the status quo have increasingly turned towards "constitutional engineering" (Sartori, 1994) or "institutional design" (Lijphart and Waisman, 1996) to achieve these ends.
To examine what options are available, this article will briefly outline the main variations in different types of electoral system. The article goes on to consider the normative criteria underlying debates about reform, and then analyze the consequences of different systems. The conclusion weighs the considerations, which are relevant in choosing an electoral system. The article compares the results of elections held in the early to mid-nineties in all major democracies (1), including fifty-three countries (for a discussion of the criteria used in selection see Leduc, Neimi and Norris 1996). This includes both established and emerging democracies, at different levels of economic and political development, to examine the effects of electoral systems under a variety of conditions. Although electoral systems can be compared at every level of office - Presidential, parliamentary, state, and local - to compare like with like we will focus mainly on national parliamentary elections for the lower house in each country. The 'electoral system' includes many different components, such as the regulation of candidacies, the facilities for registration and voting, and the funding of party campaigns. But the heart of the electoral system is the process of translating votes into seats, and this will therefore be the primary focus of the chapter.
Conclusion: Choosing an Electoral System
Often the choice of electoral system seems mechanistic - constitutional engineering designed to bring about certain objectives. But the issue of how the electoral system functions have consequences, which reflect essentially, contested concepts of representative democracy. For advocates of responsible party government the most important considerations are that elections (not the subsequent process of coalition building) should be decisive for the outcome. The leading party should be empowered to try to implement their programme during their full term of office, without depending upon the support of minority parties. The government, and individual MPs, remains accountable for their actions to the public. And at periodic intervals the electorate should be allowed to judge their record, and vote for alternative parties accordingly. Minor parties in third or fourth place are discriminated against for the sake of governability. In this perspective proportional elections can produce indecisive outcomes, unstable regimes, disproportionate power for minor parties in ‘kingmaker’ roles, and a lack of clear-cut accountability and transparency in decision-making.
In contrast proponents of proportional systems argue that the electoral system should promote a process of conciliation and coalition building within government. Parties above a minimum threshold should be included in the legislature in rough proportion to their level of electoral support. The parties in government should therefore craft policies based on a consensus among the coalition partners. Moreover the composition of parliament should reflect the main divisions in the social composition of the electorate, so that all citizens have voices articulating their interests in the legislature. In this view majoritarian systems over-reward the winner, producing 'an elected dictatorship’ where the government can implement its programmes without the need for consultation and compromise with other parties in parliament. Moreover the unfairness and disproportionate results of the electoral system outside of two- party contests means that some voices in the electorate are systematically excluded from representative bodies.
Therefore there is no single 'best' system: these arguments represent irresolvable value conflicts. For societies, which are raven by deep-rooted ethnic, religious or ethnic divisions, like Mali, Russia or Israel, the proportional system may prove more inclusive (Lijphart 1977), but it may also reinforce rather than ameliorate these cleavages (Tsebelis 1990). For states, which are already highly centralized, like Britain or New Zealand, majoritarian systems can insulate the government from the need for broader consultation and democratic checks and balances. In constitutional design it appears that despite the appeal of 'electoral engineering' there are no easy choices.
ในอดีต ระบบเลือกตั้งได้จะได้พิสูจน์หนึ่งของสถาบันประชาธิปไตยมีเสถียรภาพมากที่สุด รอง tinkering กับกฎและระเบียบที่เกี่ยวข้องกับการจัดการเลือกตั้งได้รับทั่วไป รวมทั้งการแก้ไขกฎหมายควบคุมการเลือกตั้งออกอากาศ การเปิดเผยข้อมูลทางการเงิน หรือ redistricting ซึ่งตน ในระยะหลังสงคราม ประเทศได้บางครั้งสลับสูตรเลือกตั้งระหว่าง d'Hondt และ LR-กระต่าย ปรับปรุงขีดจำกัดมีประสิทธิภาพสำหรับการเลือกตั้ง และขยายขนาดของแอสเซมบลี (Lijphart, 1994) ยัง จนล่าสุดขายส่ง และรุนแรงการปฏิรูประบบเลือกตั้งเบื้องต้น -ความหมายคะแนนวิธีแปลที่นั่ง - ได้ค่อนข้างยาก ข้อยกเว้นกฎนี้ที่สำคัญที่สุดคือ ฝรั่งเศส ซึ่งมี vacillated ระหว่างระบบสัดส่วน และ majoritarian ในงานคลาสสิกของพวกเขาใน cleavages เลือกตั้ง Lipset และ Rokkan (1967) อธิบายระบบของยุโรปตะวันตกในปี 1960 เป็น "แช่แข็ง" ในแม่พิมพ์ที่ก่อตั้งขึ้นที่เปิดของศตวรรษกับ enfranchisement ของชั้นทำ ใน จนถึงระบบเลือกตั้งล่าสุดในชุดดูเหมือนเหมือน ๆ เสรีในคอนกรีต บุคคลในรัฐบาลโดยทั่วไปชื่นชอบ และรักษาสภาพซึ่งจะเป็นประโยชน์ต่อ เทคนิคสำคัญของบุคคลเหล่านั้นหรือ out-groups แยกออกจากสำนักงานป่าวไม่ค่อยได้พิสูจน์แล้วว่าสามารถแก้ไขกฎของเกมอย่างเป็นระบบThis stability suggests that electoral systems are inherently conservative. Nevertheless institutions have the capacity to experience a radical breakdown following shocks to their external environment. In Krasner’s model of 'punctuated' equilibrium, institutions are characterized by long periods of stasis, which are interrupted by intermittent crisis, which may bring about abrupt change, after which inertia again reasserts its grip (Krasner, 1993). Where radical reforms are implemented these may produce unexpected results. For example the widespread adoption of primaries in the United States in the late sixties produced unintended consequences, or failed to achieve their initial objectives (Polsby, 1983).In the last decade significant challenges to government legitimacy fuelled the issue of electoral reform. The issue of electoral reform has become the subject of serious debate in Britain, with all the parties except the Conservatives favoring alternative systems to first-past-the-post for different levels of government (Norris, 1995; Blackburn, 1995). In 1993, after almost a century and a half of first-past-the- post, New Zealand switched to a mixed-member system (MMS) (Vowels, 1995). New Zealand had long experienced a two-party system. In contrast 34 parties, resulting in the election of six and a coalition government, contested the first contest under MMS, held in 1996. The United States has experienced growing interest in electoral reform, generated by increasing concern about the representation of women and ethnic minorities (Rule and Zimmerman 1992), and the obstacles to third parties symbolized by Perot’s run for the presidency (Rosen stone, Beer and Lazarus 1996). Yet dissatisfaction has not been confined to majoritarian systems. In 1992 Israel introduced direct elections for the prime minister (Diskin and Diskin, 1995) while the following year Italy, long seen as an exemplar of proportional representation, adopted a mixed system after prolonged debate (Donovan, 1995).At the same time there has been a wave of constitution-building following the explosion of new democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa (Huntington, 1993). In these states the choice of an electoral system generated heated debate, which needed to be resolved before other constitutional issues could be settled. Newer democracies like Ecuador, Hungary, Russia, and Taiwan have adopted 'mixed' electoral systems, believed to combine the best of both proportional and majoritarian systems.Therefore during the 1990s, debate about the electoral system moved from margin to mainstream on the political agenda. This shift produced growing awareness that electoral rules are not neutral: the way votes translate into seats means that some groups, parties, and representatives are ruled into the policymaking process, and some are ruled out. The core debate concerns whether countries should adopt majoritarian systems which priorities government effectiveness and accountability, or proportional systems, which promote greater fairness to minority parties and more diversity in social representation. Those dissatisfied with the status quo have increasingly turned towards "constitutional engineering" (Sartori, 1994) or "institutional design" (Lijphart and Waisman, 1996) to achieve these ends.To examine what options are available, this article will briefly outline the main variations in different types of electoral system. The article goes on to consider the normative criteria underlying debates about reform, and then analyze the consequences of different systems. The conclusion weighs the considerations, which are relevant in choosing an electoral system. The article compares the results of elections held in the early to mid-nineties in all major democracies (1), including fifty-three countries (for a discussion of the criteria used in selection see Leduc, Neimi and Norris 1996). This includes both established and emerging democracies, at different levels of economic and political development, to examine the effects of electoral systems under a variety of conditions. Although electoral systems can be compared at every level of office - Presidential, parliamentary, state, and local - to compare like with like we will focus mainly on national parliamentary elections for the lower house in each country. The 'electoral system' includes many different components, such as the regulation of candidacies, the facilities for registration and voting, and the funding of party campaigns. But the heart of the electoral system is the process of translating votes into seats, and this will therefore be the primary focus of the chapter.Conclusion: Choosing an Electoral SystemOften the choice of electoral system seems mechanistic - constitutional engineering designed to bring about certain objectives. But the issue of how the electoral system functions have consequences, which reflect essentially, contested concepts of representative democracy. For advocates of responsible party government the most important considerations are that elections (not the subsequent process of coalition building) should be decisive for the outcome. The leading party should be empowered to try to implement their programme during their full term of office, without depending upon the support of minority parties. The government, and individual MPs, remains accountable for their actions to the public. And at periodic intervals the electorate should be allowed to judge their record, and vote for alternative parties accordingly. Minor parties in third or fourth place are discriminated against for the sake of governability. In this perspective proportional elections can produce indecisive outcomes, unstable regimes, disproportionate power for minor parties in ‘kingmaker’ roles, and a lack of clear-cut accountability and transparency in decision-making.In contrast proponents of proportional systems argue that the electoral system should promote a process of conciliation and coalition building within government. Parties above a minimum threshold should be included in the legislature in rough proportion to their level of electoral support. The parties in government should therefore craft policies based on a consensus among the coalition partners. Moreover the composition of parliament should reflect the main divisions in the social composition of the electorate, so that all citizens have voices articulating their interests in the legislature. In this view majoritarian systems over-reward the winner, producing 'an elected dictatorship’ where the government can implement its programmes without the need for consultation and compromise with other parties in parliament. Moreover the unfairness and disproportionate results of the electoral system outside of two- party contests means that some voices in the electorate are systematically excluded from representative bodies.
Therefore there is no single 'best' system: these arguments represent irresolvable value conflicts. For societies, which are raven by deep-rooted ethnic, religious or ethnic divisions, like Mali, Russia or Israel, the proportional system may prove more inclusive (Lijphart 1977), but it may also reinforce rather than ameliorate these cleavages (Tsebelis 1990). For states, which are already highly centralized, like Britain or New Zealand, majoritarian systems can insulate the government from the need for broader consultation and democratic checks and balances. In constitutional design it appears that despite the appeal of 'electoral engineering' there are no easy choices.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
