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WikiProject Political Parties
Electoral reform is change in electoral systems to improve how public desires are expressed in election results. An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Sortition, also known as allotment, is an equal-chance method of selection by some form of lottery such as drawing coloured pebbles from a bag A by-election or bye-election (called special election in the United States) is an Election held to fill a political office that has become vacant Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an Election. A show election or a sham election is an Election that is held purely for show that is without any significant political purpose A Fixed-term election is an Election that occurs on a set date and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician A general election is an Election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election A primary election ( nominating primary) also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a Jurisdiction select candidates Indirect election is a process in which voters in an Election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice Local Elections vary widely across Jurisdictions In Electoral systems that roughly follow the Westminster model, a terminology has evolved A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles (or defined constituencies In multiple-party democratic primary elections crossover voting refers to a technique used by voters in which ballots are cast for the party a voter is opposed to in order to elect Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage Redistricting, a form of redistribution, is the process of changing of political Borders in the United States The secret ballot is a voting method in which a Voter 's choices are confidential Suffrage (from the Latin suffragium, meaning "voting tablet" and figuratively "right to vote" probably from suffrago "hough" and originally A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral A voting system allows voters to choose between options often in an Election where candidates are selected for public office. Elections by country gives information on Elections For each De jure and De facto sovereign state and dependent territory The list of election results by country gives information on Elections For each De jure and De facto sovereign state and A voting system allows voters to choose between options often in an Election where candidates are selected for public office. That includes reform of:
- Voting systems, such as runoff voting, instant runoff voting, approval voting, citizen initiatives and referendums, recall elections, and proportional representation (see voting systems for more examples). The two-round system (also known as the second ballot or runoff voting) is a Voting system used to elect a single winner Instant-runoff voting ( IRV) is a Voting system used for single-winner elections in which voters have one vote and rank Candidates in order of Approval voting is a single-winner voting system used for Elections Each voter may vote for (approve of as many of the candidates as they wish In Political science, the initiative (also known as popular or citizen's initiative) provides a means by which a Petition signed by a certain A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita A recall election is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation or PR is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes A voting system allows voters to choose between options often in an Election where candidates are selected for public office.
- Vote-counting procedures.
- Rules about political parties (typically changes to election laws).
- Eligibility to vote.
- How candidates and political parties get their names onto ballots ("ballot access"). Ballot access rules called nomination rules outside the US, regulate the conditions under which a candidate or Political party is either entitled to stand for election
- Electoral constituencies and election district borders.
- Ballot design and voting equipment.
- Scrutineering (election monitoring by candidates, political parties, etc. ).
- Safety of voters and election workers.
- Measures against bribes, coercion, and conflicts of interest.
- Financing of candidates' and referendum campaigns.
- Factors which affect the rate of voter participation ("voter turn-out").
- Many other aspects.
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Continuous change
There are many such movements globally, in almost all democratic countries, as part of the basic definition of a democracy is the right to change the rules. Political science is imperfect. Political science is a branch of Social sciences that deals with the theory and practice of Politics and the description and analysis of Political systems Electoral reforms seek to make politics work a bit better, a bit sooner. The solution to the problems of democracy tend to be "more democracy. " Electoral Reform is a permanent feature of any democracy.
Nation-building
In less democratic countries, elections are often demanded by dissidents; therefore the most basic electoral reform project is to achieve a transfer of power to a democratically elected government with a minimum of bloodshed (e. g. in South Africa in 1994). This case highlights the complexity of such reform. Such projects tend to require changes to national or other constitutions, and to alter balances of power. They are always by definition politically painful.
United Nations role
The United Nations Fair Elections Commission provides international observers to national elections that are likely to face challenge by the international community of nations, e. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security g. in 2001 in Yugoslavia, in 2002 in Zimbabwe, etc.
The United Nations standards address safety of citizens, coercion, scrutiny and eligibility to vote. They do not impose ballot styles, party diversity, or borders on electoral constituencies. Various global political movements, e. g. labour movements, the Green Party, Islamism, Zionism advocate various cultural, social, ecological means of setting borders that they consider "objective" or "blessed" in some other way. A Green party' or ecologist party is a formally organized Political party based on the principles of Green politics. Islamism ( Islam + ism; Arabic: al-'islāmiyya) a set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the Contention over electoral constituency borders within or between nations and definitions of "refugee", "citizen", and "right of return" mark various global conflicts including Israel/Palestine, Kashmir, the Congo and Rwanda.
National reforms
National electoral reform projects tend to be simpler and less focused on life-and-death matters. Australia and New Zealand held Royal Commissions to find the best form of "proportional representation" of parties in the legislature, and redesign ballots to select or elect these Members of Parliament. Electoral Reform in New Zealand has in recent years become a political issue as major changes have been made to both Parliamentary and local government elections
Electoral borders
Periodic redrawing of electoral constituency (or "riding" or "district") borders is conducted at regular intervals, or by statutory rules and definitions, if for no other reason than to eliminate malapportionment attributable to population movements. Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles (or defined constituencies Some electoral reforms seek to fix these borders according to some cultural or ecological criteria, e. g. bioregional democracy which sets borders to fit exactly to ecoregions, to avoid the obvious abuse of "gerry-mandering" where these borders are set deliberately to favor one party or another, or just to improve management of the public's commonly-owned property. Bioregionalism is a term used to describe a political cultural and environmental system based on naturally-defined areas called bioregions or Ecoregions Bioregions are defined An ecoregion ( ecological region) sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or " Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage
New Zealand
Electoral reform in New Zealand began in 1986 with the report of the Royal Commission on the Electoral System entitled Towards A Better Democracy. Electoral Reform in New Zealand has in recent years become a political issue as major changes have been made to both Parliamentary and local government elections The Royal Commission on the Electoral System was formed in New Zealand in 1985, and reported in 1986. The Royal Commission recommended that Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) be adopted instead of the current first-past-the-post system. Mixed member proportional representation, also termed mixed-member proportional voting and commonly abbreviated to MMP, is an ' additional member ' The plurality voting system is a Single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member After two referendums in 1992 and 1993, New Zealand adopted MMP. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) In 2004, some local body elections in New Zealand were elected using Single Transferable Vote instead of the block vote. Single transferable vote (STV is a preferential Voting system designed to minimize Wasted votes and provide Proportional representation
United Kingdom
There are a number of groups in the United Kingdom campaigning for electoral reform including the Electoral Reform Society, Make Votes Count Coalition and Fairshare. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Electoral Reform Society is a campaign group based in the United Kingdom which promotes Electoral reform. The Make Votes Count (MVC Coalition campaigns for a Referendum on a more representative Voting system for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom FAIRSHARE Scotland's Campaign for a Better Democracy Fairshare Voting Reform is a cross-party and non-party organisation set up in February 2001 to campaign for the introduction of the
For 19th century reforms, see The Reform Bills. Also the Reform Act 1832, the Reform Act 1867 and the Representation of the People Act 1884. The Representation of the People Act 1832, commonly known as the Reform Act 1832, was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system The Reform Act 1867 (also known as the Second Reform Act, and formally titled the Representation of the People Act 1867) 30 & 31 Vict In the United Kingdom, the Representation of the People Act of 1884 (48 & 49 Vict
United States
In 2002 the United States enacted the Help America Vote Act significantly reforming its electoral process. Electoral reform in the United States refers to efforts make changes the U The Help America Vote Act ( or HAVA, is a United States federal law passed the House 357-48 and 92-2 in the Senate and was signed into Electoral reform is a continuing process in the United States partially motivated by the fear of electoral fraud. Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an Election.
See also
External links
- A Handbook of Electoral System Design from International IDEA
- Electoral Design Reference Materials from the ACE Project
- Electoral Reform - from the ACE Project
- The Scope of Electoral Reform - from the ACE Project
- Recent electoral reforms - from the ACE Project
- Electoral Reform in Mexico (1998) - from the ACE Project
- Combatting Corruption through Electoral Reform in Thailand - from the ACE Project
- AEI-Brookings Election Reform
- Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project
- Fair Vote Canada
- Paul McKeever's Testimony to the Select Committee on Electoral Reform: No electoral system is more "democratic" than any other
- Electoral Reform Wiki
- Electoral Reform Society
- Wikia has a wiki on this subject: Electoral Reform
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