Why in news?
The results of the Lok Sabha elections were declared on June 4. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won 293 seats with a 43.3% vote share while the Opposition bloc INDIA has secured 234 seats with a 41.6% vote share. Other regional parties and independents received about 15% of the votes but only won 16 seats in total. As a result, many experts are now advocating for India to switch to a proportional representation system.
What’s in today’s article?
- First Past the Post (FPTP) system
- Proportional representation
- Prevailing international practices
- Way forward
First Past the Post (FPTP) system
- About
- The FPTP system, also known as the simple majority voting system, is an electoral method where the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins the election.
- This system is widely used in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, and India for legislative elections.
- Working
- Single-Member Districts - Each constituency elects one representative.
- Plurality Wins - The candidate who receives the highest number of votes wins, regardless of whether they achieve an absolute majority (more than 50% of the votes).
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Advantages |
Disadvantages |
- Simplicity
- Easy for voters to understand and participate in.
- Straightforward counting process.
- Strong and Stable Governments
- Often produces a clear winner, which can lead to strong and stable governments.
- Under this system, the ruling party/coalition can enjoy a majority in the Lok Sabha/Legislative assembly without obtaining majority of the votes (more than 50%) across constituencies. This increases stability of the govt.
- Direct Representation
- Provides direct representation of constituencies, ensuring that each geographic area has a dedicated representative.
- Accountability
- Representatives are directly accountable to their constituents, as they can be easily voted out in the next election if they do not perform well.
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- Disproportionality
- Can lead to a significant mismatch between the percentage of votes received and the percentage of seats won.
- Smaller parties may be underrepresented, while larger parties may receive a disproportionate number of seats.
- Wasted Votes
- Votes for losing candidates do not contribute to the overall election result, which can discourage voter participation.
- Can lead to strategic voting, where voters choose not their preferred candidate, but the one they think has the best chance of winning.
- Minority Rule
- A candidate can win with a minority of the votes if the opposition is divided among multiple candidates.
- This can result in a government that does not reflect the majority preference of the electorate.
- Geographic Concentration
- Parties with geographically concentrated support can win more seats than parties with evenly distributed support, even if they receive fewer overall votes.
- Encourages Gerrymandering
- The system can incentivize the drawing of constituency boundaries to favor one party over another, known as gerrymandering.
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Proportional Representation (PR)
- About
- PR is an electoral system designed to allocate seats in the legislature in proportion to the number of votes each party receives.
- This system contrasts with the First Past the Post (FPTP) system, where the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins.
- PR aims to create a more accurate reflection of the voters' preferences across the entire electorate.
- Working
- Party Lists - Voters typically cast their vote for a party rather than an individual candidate.
- The party then allocates seats to candidates from their list based on the proportion of votes received.
- Multi-Member Districts - Each district elects multiple representatives, which allows for proportional allocation.
- Thresholds - Often, a minimum percentage of votes (threshold) is required for a party to gain representation, to prevent excessive fragmentation.
- Types of Proportional Representation:
- List PR - Voters choose a party, and parties receive seats based on their share of the vote. Seats are filled by candidates from the party’s list.
- Mixed-Member PR - Combines elements of FPTP and PR. Voters cast two votes: one for a candidate and one for a party.
- Some seats are filled by individual candidates, while others are allocated to parties based on their share of the vote.
- Single Transferable Vote (STV) - Voters rank candidates in order of preference.
- Seats are allocated based on the proportion of votes each candidate receives, with surplus votes and eliminated candidates' votes transferred according to voter preferences.
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Advantages of PR |
Disadvantages of PR |
- Fair Representation: Parties receive seats in proportion to their share of the vote, leading to a more accurate reflection of electorate's preferences.
- Minority Inclusion: Smaller parties and minority groups have a better chance of gaining representation, promoting diversity in the legislature.
- Reduced Wasted Votes: Fewer votes are wasted as most votes contribute to the election of a candidate, increasing voter satisfaction and participation.
- Encourages Voter Turnout: Voters may feel their vote has more impact
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- Coalition Governments: While coalitions can be a strength, they can also lead to unstable governments if coalition partners frequently disagree, resulting in inefficiency or frequent elections.
- Complexity: PR systems can be more complex for voters to understand and for electoral authorities to administer compared to simpler systems like FPTP.
- Fragmentation: Can lead to a fragmented legislature with many small parties, making it difficult to achieve a majority consensus.
- Weaker Constituency Links: Representatives may be less accountable to specific geographic constituencies since they are elected on a party list basis rather than as individuals.
- Influence of Party Leadership: Party leaders often have significant control over candidate lists, which can centralize power within the party and reduce individual accountability of representatives.
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What are international practices?
- Presidential Democracies like Brazil and Argentina: Party list Proportional Representation (PR) system.
- Parliamentary democracies like South Africa, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain: Also use the party list PR system.
- Germany: Bundestag Structure
- Out of 598 seats, 299 seats (50%) are filled from constituencies under the First Past the Post (FPTP) system.
- The remaining 299 seats (50%) are allocated to parties that secure at least 5% of the votes, based on their vote share.
- New Zealand: House of Representatives Structure
- Out of 120 seats, 60% are filled through the FPTP system from territorial constituencies.
- The remaining 40% are distributed among parties that secure at least 5% of the votes, based on their vote share.
Way forward for India
- Law Commission's Recommendation (170th report, 1999)
- The Law Commission in its report, ‘Reform of the electoral laws’, recommended the introduction of the Mixed-Member Proportional Representation (MMPR) system on an experimental basis.
- It suggested that 25% of seats could be filled through a PR system by increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha.
- Upcoming Delimitation Exercise and associated challenges
- A delimitation exercise to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats is due after the first Census conducted post-2026.
- The population growth in the last five decades has been uneven across regions.
- Determining the number of seats in proportion to population alone may conflict with federal principles.
- It could lead to disenchantment in States that might lose representation through such a method.
- Way out through MMPR System
- Introducing the MMPR system for incremental seats or at least 25% of the total seats from each State/UT during the delimitation exercise could balance representation.
- This approach could mitigate concerns of southern, northeastern, and smaller northern States by preventing domination of larger States solely through the FPTP system.