- It is a common, but not universal, feature of electoral systems with single-member legislative districts (constituencies) and generally results over time in a two-party competition.
- Larger parties gain a disproportionately large share of seats, while smaller parties are left with a disproportionately small share of seats.
- To a greater extent than many other electoral methods, the first-past-the-post system encourages tactical voting. Voters have an incentive to vote for one of the two candidates they predict are most likely to win, even if they would prefer another of the candidates to win, because a vote for any other candidate will likely be "wasted" and have no impact on the final result.
- One-party rule is more likely to lead to radical changes in government policy that are only favoured by a plurality or bare majority of the voters, whereas multi-party systems usually require greater consensus in order to make dramatic changes.
- A large majority of votes may play no part in determining the outcome. This "winner-takes-all" system may be one of the reasons why "voter participation tends to be lower in countries with FPTP than elsewhere.
The Electoral reform Society is a political pressure group based in the United Kingdom which advocates abolishing the First Past the Post system (FPTP) for all national and local elections. It argues FPTP is "bad for voters, bad for government and bad for democracy". It is the oldest organisation concerned with electoral systems in the world.
Proportional Representation Systems
Electoral systems by which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If 30% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly 30% of seats will be won by that party. All votes contribute to the result: not just a plurality, or a bare majority, of them. Proportional representation requires the use of multiple-member voting districts; it is not possible using single-member districts alone. On average, compared to countries using plurality systems, governments elected with PR accord more closely with the median voter and the citizens are more content with democracy.
Single Transferable Vote
The single transferable vote (STV) is designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting in multi-seat constituencies (voting districts). Under STV, an elector has a single vote that is initially allocated to their most preferred candidate and, as the count proceeds and candidates are either elected or eliminated, is transferred to other candidates according to the voter's stated preferences, in proportion to any surplus or discarded votes. The exact method of reapportioning votes can vary. The system minimizes "wasted" votes and allows for approximately proportional representation without the use of party lists. It is the system of choice for the Electoral Reform Society.
Alternative Vote
Instant-runoff voting (IRV), alternative vote (AV), transferable vote, ranked choice voting, or preferential voting is an electoral system used to elect a single winner from a field of more than two candidates. It is a preferential voting system in which voters rank the candidates in order of preference rather than voting for a single candidate. Ballots are initially distributed based on each elector's first preference. If a candidate secures more than half of votes cast, that candidate wins. Otherwise, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Ballots assigned to the eliminated candidate are recounted and added to the totals of the remaining candidates based on who is ranked next on each ballot. This process continues until one candidate wins by obtaining more than half the votes. Where preferential voting is used for the election of an assembly or council, parties and candidates often advise their supporters on their lower preferences. This can lead to "preference deals", a form of pre-election bargaining, in which smaller parties agree to direct their voters in return for support from the winning party on issues critical to the small party. However, this relies on the assumption that supporters of a minor party will mark preferences for another party based on the advice that they have been given.
Party List Proportional Representation
Political parties define candidate lists and voters vote for a list. The relative vote for each list determines how many candidates from each list are actually elected. Lists can be "closed" or "open". Open lists allow voters to indicate individual candidate preferences and vote for independent candidates. Critics claim this can give extreme parties a foothold in parliament, but these problems can be limited, as in the modern German Bundestag, by the introduction of higher threshold limits for a party to gain parliamentary representation.
Various pages on Wikipedia
