Introduction to political science

November 6th

1) Party system (consists of at least two parties)

Elements of party systems:

-origins of the parties themselves (decisive element)
-size of parties and their number
-internal structure of each party
-ideologies

The specific factors of each party system: national context, ethnic context,
economic events, political cultures.
The general (unavoidable) factors, according to Maurice Duverger:
1) influence of social classes
2) influence of ideology
3) voting system

Typologies of party systems:

a) Competitive party systems (pluralism, turnover in power)
a')Hegemonic competitive party systems
-over an extended period of time, the same party/coalition dominates and
holds power
-e.g.: Japan, Nigeria, USA (Democrats during the New Deal Era - after
1929)
-weak points: -instability, disintegration;
-rivalry
-the possibility of emergence of a "modern oligarchy"
-double hegemony (US) - risk of no change
-risk of appearance of unanimity
b) Non-competitive party systems:
b1) One party, totalitarian - identified with the state (which is an
instrument) - monopolitic, monolithic
e.g.: Romania under Ceausescu, USSR, Germany under Hitler
b2) One party, authoritarian
e.g.: Spain under Franco
-focus on development
**some opposition voices may be tolerated; e.g.: Mexico - second half of
the 20th century.

Non-party political system:

-military rule
-rather authoritarian
-non-totalitarian
-development-focused
-political parties are deliberately prevented by the dominand oligarchies.

2) Voting systems = key variables to understand political processes in a

democracy (Maurice Duverger)
-social cleavages are fundamental (argues Stein Rokkan) => electoral systems
influence and may even modify party systems, but never transform them
fundamentally
-1954 - Maurice Duverger came up with a law as to the relationship between the
electoral procedure and the number of parties

Duverger's laws:
1. Proportional representation favours a multiparty system with rigid,
independent parties.
2. Plurality voting (simple majority) with single ballot favours a two party system
with turnover between the two (UK, New Zealand etc)
3. Plurality voting with two ballots leads to a multipary system, but dependent
parties, willing to form coalitions (France)

Electoral system - fundamental traits:

1) Ballot structure = how votes are cast
2) Constituency structure (a territory with a seat attached to it);
- single member (individual candidate) - 1 seat - Majority rule
- multiple members (party lists) - multiple seats - Proportional
representation
3) Electoral fomula = mathematical rule of how votes are translated into seats
a) Proportional Representation
-votes should be transformed as proportionally as possible into seats -
party lists
b) Majority Rule
- get majority: 50% + 1 (can be absolute - of the total possible voters - or
relative - of the votes cast)

Quota = minimum of votes to get seats (more rounds of distribution in PR)

Weak points of proportional representation:
-waste of votes;
-the winner in one constituency may not have national majority
12.5% = minimum required to qualify for redistribution
Electoral threshold = a minimum is required to enter the distribution process - an
attempt to reduce the number of parties.