Proportional electoral system: basics of political science understanding. Electoral systems (majority, proportional, mixed)

Medvedev Alexey Grigorievich

The concept of the electoral system and its components

The electoral system is an indispensable element of modern civilization, an element of any democracy, which generally cannot exist without authorized representation, which ensures the real participation of the population in managing the affairs of society and the state. Such representation, in turn, can be democratic only if it is formed by society itself, by the people themselves. Representative democracy by itself does not solve all the problems of democracy. Only in combination with direct democracy does it ensure the civilized development of society and create the necessary conditions for the self-realization of the people. I.s. is the most important form of direct democracy, the main function of which is the formation of authorized popular representation. The nature of the electoral system directly determines the main characteristics of the representative system. Elections are not only an important form of direct participation of the population in the exercise of state power, not only the act of electing representatives of the people to government bodies. This is also a means of his education and self-organization. Finally, this is the practical implementation of citizens' suffrage, an effective means of restructuring modern society. Historical experience convincingly demonstrates that serious changes in social life in general and in its individual spheres (and, first of all, in the political one) certainly affected the electoral system, and in some cases its radical changes came to the fore. The currently existing system meets the needs of the formation of Ukrainian statehood and, as such, needs radical changes and renewal. I.s. - a set of legal, organizational and other means of forming representative bodies of state power and the exercise by citizens of their voting rights. Institute of I.S. found its legislative expression in the Constitution of Ukraine, laws on elections to the Councils of People's Deputies of different Lankas, and on the procedure for recalling deputies of people's councils. I.s. is based on such constitutional principles as general, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot, nomination of candidates by public organizations, labor collectives, and meetings of military personnel; free and comprehensive discussion of the qualities of a candidate for deputy; election campaigning; holding elections at state expense; ensuring elections in districts by election commissions; voter orders; liability for violation of election laws and the like. There are several types of electoral system: majoritarian system (majority system), proportional system of representation of political parties and mixed.

Electoral power is an officially recognized type of public power in some countries, on a par with legislative, executive and judicial power. It is carried out by the country's electoral corps, that is, in special judicial or quasi-judicial bodies such as electoral tribunals that consider disputes related to the organization and conduct of elections. In Ukraine there is no such institution: their role is played by election commissions - from the precinct to the Central Election Commission and courts - from the district to the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

A polling station is a territorial unit created for voting and counting votes in elections for all councils of people's deputies. Organization and work of I. u. determined by election legislation. So, for example, in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On elections of people’s deputies of Ukraine” dated November 17, 1993, for voting and counting votes in elections of people’s deputies of Ukraine, the territory of districts, cities, districts in cities that are included in electoral districts is divided into And .u. I.u. are formed with a number of from 20 to 3,000 voters, and in necessary cases with a smaller or larger number of voters.

An electoral deposit is a sum of money that, according to the legislation of a number of countries, including Ukraine, a candidate for deputy must pay upon registration and which is returned to him only if the candidate receives at least five percent of the votes of voters who took part in the elections. voting. The non-refundable deposit is counted towards the state budget. In Ukraine I. z. contributed by the candidate for deputy in the amount of five minimum wages.

The Election Commission is a body formed to organize and conduct elections to the Councils of People's Deputies. In Ukraine, the system of election commissions includes the Central Election Commission for the elections of people's deputies of Ukraine, district election commissions, precinct election commissions - for conducting elections of people's deputies of Ukraine; regional, district, city, district in cities, township, rural election commissions; district and precinct election commissions - to conduct elections of deputies of local councils. The Central Election Commission is formed by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine upon provision of the relevant bodies no later than 4 months before the elections, consisting of a chairman, secretary, and 11 commission members. Her term of office is 4 years. Regional, district, rural V.K. are formed by the relevant Council for a period of 4 years.

An electoral district is a spatial (national-territorial) unit formed to conduct elections to the Councils of People's Deputies. Number of I.o. depends on the composition of the relevant Councils. Representation standards and number of acting representatives determined by election legislation. Yes, the Law on the Election of People's Deputies of Ukraine states that 450 single-mandate constituencies are formed for the election of people's deputies of Ukraine. They are formed by the Central Election Commission to provide the relevant Councils. From each V. o. One people's deputy is elected. But districts are formed with approximately an equal number of voters for all territories of Ukraine.

Electoral law has two meanings: 1) a set of legal norms that regulate the participation of Ukrainian citizens in elections of representative bodies of government, the organization and conduct of elections, the relationship between voters, deputies and representative institutions; 2) the right of citizens to vote (active suffrage) and the right to be elected (passive non-suffrage). In other words, this is the subjective right of citizens. V.p. - one of the most important institutions of constitutional law in Ukraine. This is a set of constitutional and legal norms that regulate the procedure for organizing and conducting elections, the conditions for the participation of citizens in elections of representative bodies of power, the relationship between deputies and voters, the procedure for recalling a deputy by voters.

The electoral process in Ukraine is carried out on the following principles:

1) free and equal nomination of applicants and candidates;

2) publicity;

3) dispassion towards candidates on the part of government bodies, institutions, organizations, local and regional governments;

4) equality of opportunity for all candidates;

5) freedom of campaigning;

6) control over sources of financing and expenses for the election campaign.

Electoral process - the procedure established by law, the procedure for organizing and conducting elections, one of the elements of the Electoral System provides for certain stages, stages, non-compliance with which can lead to undesirable consequences - up to cassation of the election results. Components of I.p. there are: 1) appointment of elections, which can be on duty, extraordinary (early), repeated, and also instead of deputies who have dropped out. 2) The formation of electoral districts and polling stations, the system of election commissions, - the Central Election Commission, district and precinct election commissions. 3) Compilation of voter lists, which is carried out by precinct election commissions. 4) Nomination and registration of candidates for deputies, the right to which belongs to the subject directly determined by law. 5) Procedural actions related to ensuring guarantees for the activities of deputy candidates and other participants in the electoral process. 6) Conducting voting. 7) Counting votes and determining election results (voting), and during the counting of votes, the election commission must adhere to the sequence of actions defined by law and properly draw up the relevant documents. 8) However, the described procedure may be continued when the need arises for holding repeat elections and elections of deputies to replace those who retired.

Types of elections

Elections are an extremely multifaceted social phenomenon. As the German statesman G. Mayer noted, on a national scale, elections are the most massive process that the law knows.

Depending on the grounds, several classifications of types of elections can be distinguished.

By territorial basis, elections are:

1) national (nationwide), which are carried out throughout the country: elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, elections of the President of Ukraine;

2) local (sometimes called local, communal, administrative): elections to representative bodies of local government (rural, town, city, district in cities, district, regional councils and village, town, city chairmen).

For the object that provides for bodies or positions to which representatives of the people are included or elected, elections can be classified as:

1) parliamentary elections - elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine;

2) elections to the position of President of Ukraine;

3) elections of a representative body of territorial autonomy - elections of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea;

4) elections of representative bodies of self-government of city, rural, town, city, district in cities, district, regional councils;

5) elections for the positions of village, town and city chairmen.

Based on the timing of holding elections, they are divided into:

1) duty officers. Elections that are held during the expiration of the term of office (legislature) provided for by the Constitution and laws of Ukraine for the functioning of a certain type of elected body or position;

2) extraordinary or early. Elections that are held in the event of early termination of the term of office provided for by the Constitution of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine for the functioning of a certain type of electoral body or position;

3) repeated. Elections that are held in cases where elections in a constituency are declared invalid or did not take place;

4) elections to replace deputies, chairmen (village, town, city councils) who dropped out. Elections that are held in single-mandate electoral districts in the event of loss of a deputy mandate or early termination of the powers of a deputy or a village, town, city chairman on the grounds and in the manner provided for by the Constitution of Ukraine and the laws of Ukraine;

5) elections that are held in the event of the formation of a new administrative-territorial unit.

Based on the quantitative basis of voter participation, elections are:

1) general, basic, when all voters of the state have the right to participate in them by law;

2) partial (additional), when the composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, local councils is replenished, in the event of the early departure of some deputies, or the recognition of elections as invalid.

Taking into account the legal consequences, elections are divided into:

1) valid - these are elections held in the manner prescribed by the Constitution of Ukraine and the relevant electoral law;

2) invalid - elections during which there were violations of the electoral legislation that influenced the election results.

Types of electoral systems

Electoral technology is a mechanism, a system of means and methods for organizing and conducting elections, the basis of the electoral system of any country.

Based on the procedure for determining election results, the following electoral systems are distinguished:

1) majority;

2) proportional;

3) mixed.

Majoritarian system

The majoritarian system is the oldest among electoral systems. Its name comes from the French majorite, which means “majority”. A majoritarian system is considered to be a system for determining election results, thanks to which only those candidates who received the legally required majority of votes receive parliamentary mandates (one or more) from the district, and all other candidates are considered unelected. 83 countries of the world use a majoritarian system, including the USA, France, Great Britain, and Canada. Depending on how the majority of votes required to elect a candidate is determined, there are:

1) majoritarian system of absolute majority; 2) majoritarian system of relative majority; 3) majority system of qualified majority.

When using a majoritarian system, electoral districts are most often single-member. Less common is the option of multi-member constituencies. In single-mandate districts, as a rule, people vote individually; in multi-mandate districts, they vote both for certain individuals and according to party lists. There are multi-member constituencies in Japan, the USA, Russia, and currently in Ukraine.

The relative majority (or simple majority, or first-to-be-first-in-office) majoritarian system is the simplest type of majoritarian system. Under the conditions of its implementation, the candidate who received the largest number of votes is considered elected. This system is quite effective. When two or more candidates have the same number of votes, which is very rare, the law traditionally uses a lottery procedure. Under this system, voting occurs in one round. As a rule, no mandatory minimum voter participation in voting is established.

The disadvantage of the relative majority majoritarian system is that it does not make it possible to take into account the interests of all voters in the district, because a candidate may be elected by an absolute minority of voters, although a relative majority of them at the time of voting, under such conditions the votes of voters who voted against the elected candidate disappear. This system also effectively cancels medium and small lots. With the adoption of a new body of electoral legislation, a majoritarian system of relative majority is currently being introduced in Ukraine, partly in parliamentary elections, and entirely in local elections. In accordance with Part 2 Art. 1 of the Law of Ukraine "On Elections of People's Deputies of Ukraine", 225 deputies of parliament are elected in single-mandate constituencies on the basis of a relative majority. In accordance with Art. 2 of the Law of Ukraine "On elections of deputies of local councils and village, town, city chairmen" elections of deputies of village, town, city, district councils in the city are held according to the majoritarian system of relative majority in single-mandate electoral districts into which the entire territory of the corresponding village, town, city, district, city. According to Art. According to this Law, elections of a village, town, city chairman are carried out according to the majoritarian electoral system of a relative majority in a single single-mandate electoral district, the limits of which coincide with the boundaries of the village, town, city. Also in accordance with Art. 4 of this Law, elections of deputies of the district council are carried out according to the majoritarian electoral system of a relative majority in multi-member electoral districts, the limits of which correspond to the limits of the corresponding villages, towns, cities of district significance, which are administrative-territorial units that are included in this region. Elections of deputies to the regional council are held according to the majority electoral system of a relative majority in multi-member electoral districts, the boundaries of which are at the same time the boundaries of the districts and cities of regional significance that are included in this region.

On the other hand, the absolute majority majority system requires more than half the votes to be collected to elect a candidate, that is, the formula is 50% + 1 vote. The derivative of this number of votes can be different: 1) the total number of registered voters; 2) the total number of voters who took part in the elections (received ballot papers); 3) the total number of voters who took part in the voting. When applying this system, as a rule, there is a mandatory lower threshold for voting participation. Also, sometimes a minimum number of votes is set, the collection of which is also a condition for the election of a candidate.

The advantage of this system is its potential democracy: it takes into account the interests of the majority of voters, although the votes of voters cast against it are again lost. The disadvantage of the system is not its effectiveness. Voting under this system usually involves repeat voting or repeat elections. Since voter turnout noticeably declines in the second round, legislation often does not establish any of the barriers that exist in the first round of voting. Another way to overcome the ineffectiveness of the absolute majority system already in the first round of elections is alternative voting (preferential or absolute voting), in which voters vote for one candidate, but at the same time indicate the order of their advantages for others. If no candidate receives an absolute majority in the first count, then the one who received the fewest votes is eliminated from the list and the corresponding second positions in the system are counted. This operation is repeated until one candidate receives the absolute number of vote conversions. This system was introduced in Australia during the elections of the House of Representatives.

In Ukraine, as is known, even recently, including in parliamentary and local elections, the majority system of absolute majority was used to count votes in elections. From now on, this system is preserved only for the elections of the President of Ukraine.

The majority system of qualified majority provides that the candidate (or list of candidates) who received a certain qualified majority of votes is considered elected. The qualified majority is established by law and, as a rule, exceeds the absolute majority. This system is used very rarely in election practice. The main reason for this is not its effectiveness. Until 1993, it was in effect in Italy for Senate elections, and is also used in Chile.

Proportional system

The second type of electoral system is the proportional system. It was first introduced in 1889 in Belgium, and now 57 countries use this system, including Israel, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

Under a proportional system, deputy mandates are distributed between parties in proportion to the number of votes collected by each of them within the electoral district. When applying this system, constituencies are always multi-member.

There are two ways to create constituencies when using the proportional vote counting system. The most common method is when the limits of electoral districts coincide with the limits of administrative-territorial units. A less common method is used when the territory of the entire state constitutes a single electoral district.

Based on the influence of voters on the placement of candidates on the voting list, the following types of proportional system are distinguished:

1) with rigid lists;

2) with preferences;

3) with semi-rigid lists. When using rigid lists, the voter votes for the list of the party that he elects as a whole. The ballot paper indicates only the names, emblems of parties, and sometimes a certain number of first candidates on party lists. The rigid list system is practiced in Spain, Portugal, Israel, Russia, and Ukraine.

When applying the system of preferences (translated as “advantage”), the voter not only votes for the lists of the party that is electing, but also makes a note opposite the number of the candidate in the candidate list from the party to whom he gives his vote. Thus, the one who received the largest number of preferences is elected; in the event of an equal number of preferences for several candidates from the party, preference is given to the one who occupies the highest place on the party list. The system of preferences is practiced in Finland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

The semi-rigid list system provides the voter with the opportunity to vote:

1) for the list as a whole;

2) determine preferences by noting or entering the names of one or more candidates. In the first case, votes are counted according to a system of rigid lists, in the second - according to a system of preferences. This system is practiced in Switzerland, Austria, and Italy.

A proportional system with rigid lists has its advantages: when voting, first of all, the political platform and program for the future activities of the party are elected; This system is the simplest in form of implementation and the cheapest. Its disadvantage is that the party list can “pull” unknown, incompetent, unpopular politicians into deputies, senators, and the like. In contrast, the system of preferences makes it possible to expand the sphere of expression of the will of the voters themselves, because both lists and personnel vote." 1 This is its advantage, however, the disadvantage is that it is, so to speak, majoritarian - the voter is guided more by individual political individuals, rather than on the interests and tasks of the party as a whole.The introduction of a system with semi-rigid lists was caused by the need to overcome the shortcomings of the system of rigid lists and preferences.

A common, so to speak, “burdensome” circumstance when introducing a proportional system is a rather complex system for counting votes. This more or less complex mathematical calculation requires a two-step operation. At the initial stage, each list receives as many seats as the number of times it meets the electoral coefficient. Since the number of seats allocated to a particular list is the total number of votes received by that list, there are always a few votes remaining. These votes are the remainder (or surplus), which is taken into account until the logical conclusion of the distribution of votes. The electoral coefficient (electoral quota, electoral meter) is a divisor that is used to recognize the number of seats that each list will receive during distribution. Most often, a simple coefficient is used, which is obtained after the vote by dividing in each district separately the total number of votes cast by the number of seats to be filled. There are other types of coefficients: Hegenbach-Bischoff coefficient, standard coefficient, reduction coefficient, double coefficient, selective coefficient.

The distribution of surpluses (residues) is carried out by two main methods:

1) The largest surplus method involves allocating seats to the list that has the largest number of unrepresented votes deferred from the first allocation, and so on until all seats have been allocated.

2) the greatest average method is a method by which the total number of votes received on a list is divided by the number of seats already received on that list, plus one fictitious seat. The list that thus gets the most average gets the next place and so on until all the places have been allocated.

There are other methods for calculating excesses: the d'Hont method, the Saint-lapeau method, the modified Saint-lapeau method.

In order to prevent the rapid growth of the number of small, non-representative parties in proportional election systems, an electoral threshold is being introduced, which means that only those party lists that have received a certain percentage of votes established by law are allowed to participate in the distribution of seats after voting. These thresholds vary, for example in the Netherlands - 0.67, Israel - 1, Sweden, Russia, Germany - 5, Liechtenstein - 8, Turkey - 10%. In Ukraine, according to the new parliamentary electoral legislation - 4%.

Mixed system

There is a fairly wide range of mixed systems, which are a combination of majority and proportional systems. At least 20 countries around the world use them. Mixed election systems are used, as a rule, in those countries where the search and establishment of electoral systems is underway or it is necessary to reach a compromise between the principle of representation of different political forces in parliament and the stability of the government formed by them.

Sometimes mixed systems are introduced in a modified form with the advantage of one or another electoral system.

Electoral systems that provide an advantage to the majoritarian voting method when using proportional voting are the following mixed systems:

1) a system with a single vote that does not allow transfer. Its content is that in a multi-member electoral district, a voter votes for one candidate, and not for a list of candidates from a party. This is practiced in Japan, China;

3) cumulative voting provides that the voter has as many votes as there are mandates in the district, and can distribute it among all candidates, or can cast all his votes for only one of the candidates.

There is also a mixed system, which primarily uses a modified proportional representation system.

The single-vote transfer system means that voters vote for one candidate regardless of the number of seats in the constituency, but also express an advantage over other candidates.

The simplest version of a mixed electoral system is parallel combination: a certain part of the representative body is elected as a majoritarian, the other - according to the proportional principle. An example is the German parliament, where the lower house - the Bundestag - is elected half by a majoritarian system, and half by proportional representation. The same factors form the basis for the election of the parliaments of Lithuania, Georgia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria.

In Ukraine, the parliament is also elected on the basis of general, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot under a mixed majoritarian proportional system. A total of 450 deputies are elected. Of these, 225 are in single-mandate constituencies based on a relative majority, and 225 are behind the lists of candidates for deputy from political parties, electoral blocs of parties in a multi-member national constituency based on proportional representation.

The proportional system involves voting on party lists and the distribution of mandates (from the Latin mandatum - mandate - a document certifying the rights or powers of a person, for example a deputy) between parties strictly proportional to the number of votes cast. In this case, the so-called “electoral meter” is determined - the smallest number of votes required to elect a single deputy.

The proportional system is the most common electoral system in the world. It has two varieties:

Proportional electoral system at the national level, where voters vote for political parties throughout the country, and electoral districts are not allocated.

A proportional electoral system based on multi-member districts, when deputy mandates are distributed based on the influence of parties in electoral districts.

As for the majoritarian system, it is characterized by the fact that the candidate (or list of candidates) who receives the majority of votes required by law is considered the winner. Most are different. There are electoral systems that require an absolute majority (50% plus one vote or more). The majoritarian system of relative majority means that the first one to “reach the finish line” wins the election. In general, under a majoritarian system, voting is possible in one or two rounds.

Proportional and majoritarian systems have their advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages of the majoritarian system is that it contains the possibility of forming an efficient and stable government. It allows large, well-organized parties to easily win elections and create one-party governments.

The main disadvantages of the majoritarian system should be considered the following:

A significant portion of the country's voters remain unrepresented in government;

A party that receives fewer votes in an election than its rivals may find itself represented in parliament with a majority of seats;

Two parties that receive an equal or close to equal number of votes nominate an unequal number of candidates to government bodies.

The advantages of the proportional system include the fact that the government bodies formed through it present a real picture of the political life of society and the alignment of political forces. This system promotes the development of a multi-party system and political pluralism.

The main disadvantages of the proportional electoral system are the following:

Difficulties arise in forming a government due to the lack of a dominant party and the creation of multi-party coalitions that include different goals and objectives. The consequence of this deficiency is the instability of the formed government;

The direct connection between deputies and voters is very weak, since voting is carried out not for specific candidates, but for parties;

Independence of deputies from their parties.

It is difficult to say which electoral system is more democratic, that is, which more accurately reflects the opinion of voters, the vox populi. At first glance, it seems that the proportional system captures the entire spectrum of opinions, but the majoritarian system forces voters to think more thoroughly before making a choice.

Electoral systems have come a long way in their development. During this process, the formation of a mixed electoral system began, i.e. a system that was supposed to include all the positive features of both proportional and majoritarian systems. Within the framework of a mixed system, a certain part of the mandates is distributed on a majority basis. The other part is distributed proportionally. Experience shows that this option is the most democratic and effective for achieving political stability.

The electoral system itself can influence the electoral space, or voters. Based on the nature of its impact, its effects are conventionally divided into short-term and long-term.

In the short term, the results of individual votes provide insight into the extent to which electoral rules ensure the principle of proportional representation in an elected body. A combination of various components, such as district size (the number of seats allocated to each district), the electoral formula, the threshold of representation and the type of ballot, influence the degree of proportionality in the distribution of seats among political actors based on their electoral votes. In this regard, the electoral system can be considered as one of the procedural factors (election technologies, the role of public debates, etc.) affecting the outcome of any election.

In the long term, the electoral system largely determines the level of fragmentation of the party system, thus structuring the electoral space. The choice of strategies for electoral competition between actors, as well as strategies for voting among voters, turns out to be a dependent variable on the type of electoral rules.

A theoretical model relevant for the analysis of the short-term and long-term effects of the electoral system is M. Duverger's scheme. He divided the effects of the electoral system into “mechanical” and “psychological”. The effect of the first of them can be assessed by analyzing the results of single elections. Any electoral system strengthens the representation of strong political participants at the expense of weak ones. The extent to which strong participants gain an advantage depends on the factors I cited above. Proportional representation systems with high constituency sizes are found to be more conducive to proportional distribution of seats based on votes received, and are therefore preferable to weak actors. At the same time, majority systems, whether relative or absolute, with low constituency sizes produce greater disproportionality, thereby allowing fewer actors to achieve representation in parliament.

In order for the psychological effect of the electoral system to take effect, at least a second election must be held. It arises as a reaction of political actors and voters to the action of a mechanical effect. Thus, political actors resort to coalition building, and voters prefer to vote for large parties or important candidates. This is how the electoral space is structured in the direction of reducing fragmentation.

The proportional electoral system is one of the types of electoral systems used in many countries, including the Russian Federation.

The proportional electoral system was first used in elections in Belgium in 1899.

Proportional electoral system

The territory of the state or representative body is declared unified. Political parties and/or political movements nominate lists of their candidates. The voter votes for one of these lists. distributed in proportion to the votes received by each party.

Many countries have a passing threshold expressed as a percentage of all votes. For example, in Russia the passing percentage in elections to the State Duma in the last elections was 7%, and in the elections in 2016 it will be 5%. A five percent barrier exists in almost all countries, but in some countries the percentage is lower. For example, in Sweden - 4%, in Argentina - 3%, in Denmark - 2%, and in Israel - 1%.

The proportional system can be used both in the elections of the entire parliament (for example, in Denmark, Luxembourg, Latvia, Portugal), and only the lower house (for example, in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Poland) or half of the lower house (for example, in Germany until 2007 and since 2016 in the Russian Federation).

Types of proportional electoral system

There are two main types of proportional electoral system - closed party lists and open party lists.

Closed party list - when a voter votes only for a party, and not for an individual candidate. The party receives the number of seats in proportion to the votes received. The mandates won in the elections are distributed within the party list among party members, according to their order in the list. If the list is divided into the central part and regional groups, candidates from the central part go first. Candidates from regional groups receive mandates in proportion to the votes cast for the party list in the corresponding region.

This type of proportional electoral system is used in the Russian Federation, in Israel, in the countries of South Africa, in elections to the European Parliament, as well as in all countries of the European Union.

An open party list is when a voter votes not only for a party, but also for a specific party member from the list. Depending on the method, the voter can vote for either a specific party member, or for two, or indicate the order of preference for candidates on the list.

This type of proportional electoral system is used in Finland, the Netherlands, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Advantages of a proportional electoral system

The advantage of the proportional electoral system, in contrast to the one, is that votes are not lost. Except, of course, for those votes that were cast for parties that did not pass the percentage threshold. Therefore, elections in Israel are considered the fairest application of the proportional system.
The proportional electoral system allows for the creation of representation of political parties in accordance with their popularity among voters. However, this opportunity is not lost to the minority.
Voters do not vote for a specific candidate who has a better chance, but for a direction that they share.
In those countries where open lists are used, the influence of parties on the personal composition of their representatives in parliament is reduced.
Representatives with financial leverage over voters are less likely to get into parliament.

Disadvantages of the proportional electoral system

The main disadvantage of the proportional electoral system is considered to be the partial loss of the principle of democracy, the loss of communication between deputies and voters and/or specific regions.
In those countries where a closed party list is used, the voter votes for an abstract candidate. Most often, the voter knows only the leader of the party and a few of its prominent representatives.
With closed party lists, “locomotive technology” is also used - when at the beginning of the list there are popular personalities (for example, television and film stars), who then refuse mandates in favor of unknown party members.
Closed party lists enable the party leader to determine the order of candidates, which can lead to both dictatorship within the party and internal division due to unfair competition between party members.
The disadvantage is the high percentage barrier that does not allow a new and/or small batch to pass.
In a parliamentary republic, the government is formed by the party with the majority of mandates. But with a proportional system, there is a high probability that one of the parties will not have a majority, which leads to the need to create a coalition of ideological opponents. Such a government may be unable to implement reforms due to internal divisions.
An ordinary voter does not always understand the system of distribution of mandates, which means he may not trust the elections and refuse to participate in them. In many countries, the level of turnout for elections ranges from 40–60% of the total number of citizens eligible to participate in elections. This means that such elections do not reflect the true picture of preferences and/or the need for reform.

Proportional electoral system in Russia

In Russia, the proportional electoral system is used in elections to the State Duma and in elections to deputies of legislative (representative) bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Starting from 2016, half of the deputies (225) of the State Duma of the Russian Federation will be elected in single-mandate majoritarian districts, and the second half - according to a proportional system with a percentage threshold of 5%. From 2007 to 2011, all 450 deputies were elected from a single electoral district using a proportional system with a percentage threshold of 7%.

An election campaign is a process unfolding over time, consisting of successive stages. Each stage, in turn, includes a set of specific electoral procedures and actions. Main stages of the election campaign:

- calling elections;
- nomination of candidates;
- pre-election struggle;
- voting;
- determination of election results.

Elections must be called within a time frame that allows candidates and political parties to launch a full-fledged election campaign.

The purpose of the procedure for calling elections is to set a voting day. This day can be strictly fixed. But in most countries there is no such predetermined election date, and therefore it is necessary to issue a special act establishing such a date.

The Constitution outlines the constitutional and legal formula of the relationship between democracy as a political form of organization of state power and elections as an institution that ensures one of the areas of direct participation of citizens in the management of state affairs: these are provisions related to the foundations of the constitutional system and relating to the political rights and freedoms of citizens, state legal personality of society, according to which the only source of power in the Russian Federation is the multinational people, exercising their power directly, as well as through state authorities and local governments. Fundamental is the constitutional characterization of the institutions of referendum and elections as the highest and direct expression of the power of the people.

The results of elections, which determine winners and losers, largely depend on the type of electoral system.

There are two main types: majority and proportional.

The majoritarian system is a method of determining the results of voting, in which a statutory majority of votes is required to obtain a mandate. The main rule of this system is the “winner takes all” rule. Varieties of this system are the majoritarian system of the relative majority and the majoritarian system of the absolute majority. Under the absolute majority system, to be elected, a candidate must receive an absolute majority of the votes cast in the district (more than half or 50% of the votes). However, its disadvantages are also significant: high unrepresentativeness (up to 49% of the votes may be lost as a result) and the likelihood of several rounds of voting (if in the first round none of the candidates received an absolute majority of votes).

In a majoritarian system of relative majority, the candidate who gets more votes than each of his opponents individually is considered elected. This system makes it possible to determine the winner already in the first round of voting, but often the candidate who receives a very small percentage of the vote and represents the interests of a clear minority of the electorate is elected. The majoritarian system was established in England, the USA, France, and Japan.

A proportional electoral system is a method of determining voting results, which is based on the principle of distributing seats in proportion to the number of votes received by each party. With this system, large districts are created, from each of which several deputies are elected. Often the entire country becomes the constituency. Elections are held only on a party basis: each party nominates its own list of candidates for vacant positions, and the voter votes not for an individual, but for a particular party list as a whole. Within the list, mandates are distributed in accordance with the order in which the candidates are located on the list. Under such a system, it is impossible to nominate a so-called independent candidate, i.e. in order to be elected, you need to get on the list.

The majoritarian and proportional systems have their advantages and disadvantages.

One of the advantages of the majoritarian electoral system is that it contains the possibility of forming an effective and stable government. This is achieved by distributing mandates among large, well-organized parties, which form single-party governments based on a majority. This system also encourages smaller parties to form blocs or coalitions even before elections begin. Practice shows that the authorities created on this basis are stable and capable of pursuing strong public policy. In a majoritarian electoral system, the population votes for specific deputies. As a result, strong, sustainable ties arise between deputies and voters.

At the same time, the majoritarian electoral system also contains a number of significant shortcomings. This system largely distorts the real picture of preferences and thus does not reflect the will of voters. Under this system, for the distribution of parliamentary mandates, most often only the fact that a candidate receives a relative majority of votes matters. The votes given to all other candidates are not taken into account when distributing mandates and, in this sense, are lost. There is a fairly large opportunity to manipulate the will of voters through “cutting out electoral districts.” Knowing the preferences of voters, you can manipulate the geography of districts

Thus, the majoritarian electoral system creates the possibility of forming a government that relies on a majority in parliament, but does not enjoy the support of the majority of the population. It severely limits access to parliament for minority representatives, including small parties. As a result, a majoritarian electoral system can weaken the legitimacy of the government, cause citizens to distrust the political system, and become passive in elections.

The proportional electoral system largely eliminates the obvious discrepancy between the number of votes cast for a party and the number of parliamentary seats it receives. Thus, the proportional electoral system most adequately reflects the political will of the population. The advantages of the proportional electoral system include the fact that the government bodies formed with its help present a real picture of the balance of political forces. It creates the opportunity to be represented in government bodies by national, religious minorities and other social strata that form small parties. Thus, the proportional electoral system provides feedback between the state and civil society organizations, contributes to the legitimization of power, and intensifies the participation of the population in elections.

The disadvantages of the proportional electoral system include the relatively less stability of the government. The broad representation of various political forces in parliament, characteristic of this system, very often does not allow any party to form a one-party government and encourages the formation of coalitions.

Since, under a proportional electoral system, voting is carried out not for specific candidates, but for lists of parties and associations, the direct connection between deputies and voters is very weak. This circumstance also contributes to the greater dependence of deputies on their parties than on voters. Such lack of freedom can negatively affect the process of passing important laws; a deputy most often votes in the interests of the party and its leaders than for his voters.

In different countries that use the proportional system, this “threshold” varies. So in Israel it is 1%, in Denmark - 2%, in Ukraine - 3%, in Italy, Hungary - 4%, in Germany, Russia - 5%, in Georgia - 7%, in Turkey - 10%.

In a number of countries, electoral systems are being created in order to combine the positive aspects of various systems and minimize their disadvantages. mixed type. In which, in one way or another, elements of the majoritarian and proportional systems are combined. The practical implementation of a mixed electoral system in the voting process is that each voter receives two ballots. Accordingly, he has two votes: with one he votes for a specific candidate running in a given electoral district, with the other - for a political party or association.

The essence of the mixed electoral system is that part of the deputies to the same representative body of power is elected according to the majoritarian system, and the other part - according to the proportional system. It is planned to create majoritarian electoral districts (most often single-member, less often multi-member) and electoral districts (with a proportional system with multi-member districts) or a single national multi-member electoral district for voting on party lists of candidates. Accordingly, the voter receives the right to simultaneously vote for a candidate (candidates) running in a majoritarian district on a personal basis and for a political party (list of candidates from a political party). In reality, when carrying out the voting procedure, a voter receives at least two ballots: one to vote for a specific candidate in a majoritarian district, the other to vote for a party.

Consequently, a mixed electoral system is a system for the formation of representative bodies of power, in which some of the deputies are elected on a personal basis in majoritarian districts, and the other part is elected on a party basis according to the proportional representation principle.

Mixed electoral systems are usually distinguished by the nature of the relationship between the elements of the majoritarian and proportional systems used in them. On this basis, two types of mixed systems are distinguished:

* a mixed unrelated election system, in which the distribution of mandates under a majoritarian system does not depend in any way on the results of elections under a proportional system (the examples given above are just examples of a mixed unrelated electoral system);
* mixed linked electoral system, in which the distribution of seats under the majoritarian system depends on the results of elections under the proportional system. In this case, candidates in majoritarian districts are nominated by political parties participating in elections according to the proportional system. Mandates received by parties in majoritarian districts are distributed depending on the election results using a proportional system.

Against the backdrop of ongoing elections, most people have a question about what is a proportional electoral system? This problem has long ceased to be purely encyclopedic in nature, having moved to a more practical plane. Therefore, it makes sense to characterize the designated election process and identify its advantages and disadvantages.

Proportional Characteristics

If we simply formulate the essence of this, it may look like this: a voter votes for the image of a particular political force. And this is precisely what distinguishes this type from the majoritarian model. But such a definition requires decoding. So, the main features of the proportional type are:

No uncounted votes.
The direct relationship between the percentage of votes cast in an election and the percentage of seats in the elected body.

These two characteristics determine that a certain section of the country or the entire state itself is a multi-mandate constituency in which everyone is free to choose the political force he likes. In this case, parties, movements, associations, blocs are elected, but only individuals represented in the registered lists are elected to the body. It is worth noting that in countries with developed democracies, the proportional electoral system can include “joint lists” and “independent lists”. In the first case, the uniting political forces go to the elections as a united front, without specifying who exactly will represent them in the body. In the second, the proportional electoral system allows the nomination of a single individual (this situation is typical for Belgium or Switzerland).

In general, the electoral process under this system is as follows: upon arriving at the polling station, the voter casts his only vote for a specific party. After the votes are counted, the political force receives the number of seats in the body that corresponds to the percentage received in the elections. Next, the number of mandates is distributed according to the list registered in advance among members of the political force. Rotation of seats occurs only in cases where it is not possible for physical or legislative reasons to exercise powers.

From all this we can conclude that the proportional electoral system is a special type of election process in which a representative of the electorate votes not for specific individuals, but for political forces. It is also worth remembering that the territory in which the elections take place is one large multi-member constituency.

Proportional electoral system: advantages and disadvantages

Like any type of electoral process, this system has both advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages is the fact that the proportional electoral system helps to take into account the preferences of the entire electorate, which has decided to voice its will. In this case, it compares favorably with the majoritarian system, which takes into account only the will of the majority.

But a significant drawback of this system is that the voter is actually given the right to vote for the image of a particular political force, and not for a specific person. It is worth noting that in this case the appearance can be based on the charisma of the leader (as happened, for example, in Germany in 1933). At the same time, other individuals who come to power may be completely unknown to the electorate. Thus, the proportional electoral system contributes to the development of a “cult of personality” and, as a consequence, a possible transition from a democratic system to autocracy. However, this situation does not occur so often due to the implementation of deterrence norms.

Consequently, the proportional electoral system is a convenient mechanism for taking into account the opinions of the entire society living in a specific part of the country or in the entire state.