The Internet Generation: Engaged Citizens or Political Dropouts

7: The Electoral System

7 The Electoral System I n part 2, we seek to identify institutional arrangements found in advanced democracies that manage to maintain relatively high levels of informed political participation among young citizens, despite the universal transformations described in part 1. In the previous chapter, we set out the principle that such institutions foster citizens’ awareness of the consequences of their decisions by simplifying the relationship betweentheiractionsandoutcomes .Wepointedtothepotentialadvantages of unitary, unicameral, parliamentary systems in this regard, suggesting that the principle applied especially when these are accompanied by complementary party structures and, especially, electoral systems. The effect on informed political participation of different electoral or voting systems, the set of institutions through which ordinary citizens choose who will make political decisions on their behalf, is the subject of this chapter. Alternate Voting Systems When it comes to electoral institutions, a crucial quality associated with fostering citizens’ awareness is proportionality, which, as Franklin put it, “enhances the predictable consequences of the voter’s choice” (1999, 220). Fully developed, proportionality of party representation to its popular support—in short, proportional representation, or pr—is a principle that extends beyond the mathematical formula for allocating seats in the legislature. pr is applied to representation in local and regional assemblies, even school boards and various councils in which parties have a legitimate place, as well as to the regulations governing media access and party financing. The underlying principle is to ensure that all legitimate political positions among the population are given public expression at an equitable level. Integrated into the political culture, pr 140 // institutions simplifies the relationship between actions and outcomes, driving down the cost of political knowledge. This chapter argues that—especially when combined with unitary, unicameral, and parliamentary institutions—pr promotes a politically knowledgeable population, and thus informed political participation. In this analysis, I follow the logic of Lijphart (1984, 1999), who places democratic countries on a continuum from what he termsconsensualtomajoritariandemocracy,inwhichtheproportionality of a country’s electoral system is the most important distinguishing element. A second dimension of consensualism concerns the relationship between institutions at the local and regional levels and those at the center. As conceived here, this dimension draws attention to the relationship between voting systems and political party organization— i.e., how political activities oriented toward macro-level national politics are integrated with those concerned with micro-level local matters. It should perhaps be stated at the outset what is not being claimed. The argument here, as elsewhere in this volume, rests on the objective of informed political participation. As noted in the previous chapter, unitary or unicameral systems are not necessarily appropriate in all circumstances, as powerful second chambers and constitutionally entrenched regional governments (federalism) can play a necessary role in fostering integration in large countries geographically divided along sociocultural lines. Similarly, an electoral system based on single member districts may, in some cases better ensure the representation of minority groups. India comes to mind here. Given local circumstances, as well as prevailing values, proportional systems may not be appropriate. It is because of this that we do not here enter the discussion about the relationship between alternate electoral systems and government efficiency. The absence of a single party majority—far more likely under pr than in the Anglo-American system of single member plurality, or smp—leads some to claim that smp produces governments that are more efficient (e.g., Barker 1994). This is a view contested by Lijphart (1999), among others, and clearly does not apply to smp countries unable to produce single party majorities, such as Canada in the last decade, nor to the stable governments produced for generations under pr in Scandinavia. The underlying objective of pr electoral systems is to attain proportionality between representation in the legislature and popular support, and thus not exclude parties with relatively weak, but nevertheless real, the electoral system // 141 support. Hence, at its simplest, citizens participating in pr elections are more likely to be able to find, and place in office, representatives from parties that stand for policies and principles that they support. pr-elected national legislatures are common is Europe, but only in New Zealand among the Anglo-American democracies. Britain, Canada , and Australia share a set of political institutions known as the Westminster model, though Australia uses a form of pr to elect the upper chamber of its legislature. The United States rejected other elements of the...