Elections

ELECTIONS
(GROUP 2)
BUSTILLO DALGUNTAS
CALANZA DEQUILLA
CAMPANIEL
WHAT IS AN ELECTION
 Labeled by thinkers as the very heart of democracy.
 a necessary condition for political representation especially in a democratic

political system.
 A process being done wherein the people, commonly in democratic type

political systems, exercise their rights to vote for the leaders they deemed
worthy to serve their interests and those around them.
Elections?
 There are key positions in the Government that are subject to elective
principle especially in the Executive and the Legislative part whilst the
Judiciary is more appointed rather than elected.
 There are also some exeptions to this statement in which we can see that
Political Systems in Monarch led Countries do not need elections as well
as some of the Legislature chambers in the UK.
ELECTIONS?
The next thing is who can vote? There are some informal
restrictions when it comes to voting such that in the US where
only citizens get the electoral registration solely in their hands
since non-voting is quite rampant.
In Australia, Italy and Belgium on the other hand. Voting is

deemed conpulsory.
ELECTIONS?
• The process of voting is done in most states in the form of a secret ballot
or known as the Australian Ballots to prioritize fairness in the Electoral
process.
• Although this fairness is being prioritized, it still cannot be completely

realized if people do not have enough informations about who to vote, in
such corcumstances then their range of options becomes less extensive
and thus resulting them to voting the not so right leader for the Country.
Elections?
 Are Elections nowadays, really still competitive or not? Since the past in
the 1990’s in the Communist countries, the common practices were
actually single-candidate elections. Rather than that elections nowadays
have so many political parties and candidates for even a single electoral
position.
 This goes to show that there many aspirants to actually run for office but
there are a lot of differences between these candidtaes depending on the
parties they represent since political parties have different influence,
impacts towards the public as well as importantly drastic difference in
funding for the electoral process.
Compulsory Voting or Not?
• YES:
1. Increased Participation - shows that it solves the lacking

political participation that has plagued democratic countries for
decades.
2. Greater Legitimacy - this shows that compulsory voting
should therefore strengthen democratic legitimacy and ensure that
governments don’t neglect sections of itslef that are less active.
3. Civic Duty - since citizenship involve hefty rights and

constitute political obligations as well. We have the duty to vote
and this also promote educational benefits in political activism.
4. Countering Social Disadvantage - since people in the society
are not equal, there should be a situation where all people vote
not that all people can vote. This is very important to the poor in
order for them to fight for their own interests and not just let the
society being unequal.
 NO:
1. Abuse of Freedom - people have the right to abstain from
voting as a way to show their conflictions on who to vote or
just a direct way of opposing the political system itself.
Compulsion rejects individual freedom.
2. Cosmetic Democracy - this suggest that, the higher votes
do not solve the problem of the lack of political engagement of
the people and may also turn out worse in the long run since it
may ignore the true problems that are underneat the surface of
the current political system being employed.
1. Worthless votes - these should then be a problem such that
should be non-voters actually just waste their votes cause of
lack of suffiecient knowledge which then can change the
outcome of stable election into the worst.
2. Distorted Political Focus - a problem wherein the political
parties are forced to adjust their platforms for marginalized
groups thus making their planning become less organized
and chaotic even.
FUNCTIONS OF ELECTIONS:
Recruiting Politicians: - through this process the

state/government actually recruit the politicians who have the
responsibility to manage the offices that they are elected in.
 Making Govenrments - governments could be made just in
USA, Venezuela, and France. Although in some, governments
were actually made after post-electoral deals and thus
govenrments can be made or unmade without a need for an
election.
Providing Representation - elections are a good representation
of giving their demands to the public especially if they are
competitive. Although the government is never a full
representation of a larger microcosm of society.
Influencing Policy - there are instances that elections may be
able to deter some unpopular policies but narrowly only. Since
some of these may be influenced by electoral process, other
view it as influenced more likely by economical considerations.
 Educating Voters - the process of elections can only educate the public
about the certain conditions of the political system and political party
regimes, only if the process should be engaging public interests and
stimulating debates for more discussion.
 Building Legitimacy - the process of elections engages the slightest bit
of political engagement from the people thus it shows the ritual or
ceremonial importance of consent to rule by the people to the wnning
candidates of the electoral process.
 Strengthening Elites - this refers to the point in which the elections
could foster the elite class of people to become stronger as they practice
their influence in the electoral process.
ELECTORAL SYSTEMS?
 refers to the set of systemic rules that governs the conduct of the
elections. Actually the cause of debates and discussions around the world
since it varies from place to place.
 Voters could choose from candidates as well as parties.
 People could vote a single candidate or they could rank their support in
order to give supports to the best person for them.
 Electorate could be grouped or put into constituencies.
 Constituencies could return a single member or a number of members.
 level of support needed to elect the target should be a plurality or a type
of system of a majority.
Proportional Representation:
 is the principle that parties should actually be represented in an assembly or
parliament in direct proportion to their strengths, their percentage of seats
equaling their percentage of votes.
 The best known Political Representation Systems are the Part-List System,
Single-Transferable System, and the Additional member system.
Plurality
- the largest number out of a collection of numbers, not necessarily an absolute
majority(50 percent % or more of all the numbers combined.
SINGLE-MEMBER PLURALITY SYSTEM
FEATURES:
• Country is didvided into single-member constituencies, usually of equal size. Voters
should select a single cadidate by crossing the his/her name in the ballot.
• Winning candidate only needs to have majority of votes to win.
Advantages:
 The system creates a clear link between representatives and constituents and thus to
ensure the constituency duties must be carried out properly.
 offering the electorate a clear choice of potential parties of the government.
 allows the formation of electorate supported governments albeit only plurality based.
Keeps extremism at bay, by restricting radical groups from gaining seats and actually
influencing the greater palns of the whole political system.
 makes for a stronger and more effective government in that a single party usually has
a majority control of the whole assembly. It also produces a stable government unlike
others that actually collapse mainly due to dis-unity and internal friction. If there is
only a single party, then the risk is less.
Disadvantages:
 This system is said to waste a lot votes that are not actually included in the plurality
benchmarks. This also ignores the impact of the smaller parties which then means
disregarding the third party effect.
 Only gives limited choices(duopolistic tendencies), and also undermines the
legitimacy of the government since it is included in the minority support.
 could create instability once a change of government happens and a radical shift of
policies and direction could happen. It also creates an unstable government that gives
more power towards the executive than the legislature since there are more
supporters of the latter in the community.
SECOND BALLOT SYSTEMS:
FEATURES:
 Single-candidate constituencies and single-choice voting are present just in the last
system of voting. In order to win the 1st ballot, candidate must

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 a necessary condition for political representation especially in a democratic

 A process being done wherein the people, commonly in democratic type

In Australia, Italy and Belgium on the other hand. Voting is

• Although this fairness is being prioritized, it still cannot be completely

1. Increased Participation - shows that it solves the lacking

3. Civic Duty - since citizenship involve hefty rights and

Recruiting Politicians: - through this process the

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