Chapter 11 Elections

Today elections are widespread around the world. This trend has occurred for several reasons. The first one is that even if countries are not democratic, they want to appear democratic. The second reason is that elections can serve more purposes for the state than merely the democratic one of allowing the mass of people to help in the selection of leaders and policies. Elections were invented to make democracy possible but once invented they turned out to have further uses. Autocratic systems would want to have elections because they can serve two main purposes; the purely democratic purpose of allowing the mass of people to have some direct say in the choice of leaders and policies, but also the more or less universal purpose of allowing the state to mobilize its people and to build up their support for the state by acting out support and participating in the process of government. There are different types of electoral systems, and there are certain kinds of electoral choice that a government may grant to its people.

Elections are not normally thought of as functioning to build support for the system, but they deserve this purpose as much in democracies as in autocracies. The state needs to maintain sufficient support among its citizens so that its authority does not lose strength. For democracies and autocracies alike, elections help ensure this popular base of support.

In many countries elections do more than just win support for the regime; they are the means by which leaders and sometimes policies are chosen by the people. For this to be the case an election must involve a choice between candidates or a choice whether a particular policy is to be followed.

If elections are to be used to choose political leaders, there must be some rule for translating people's votes into a particular selection of leaders. States need to design rules determining which people win office as a result of any particular result in the voting.; these rules are called the electoral system of the state. Two broad types of electoral systems are used in almost all democracies: single member district pluralist systems and proportional representation systems. In the SMDP system, the state is divided into a set of districts, usually having roughly equal populations. One representative is elected from each district to be a member of the legislative body of the state, and whoever gets a plurality of the votes wins the seat. SMPD electoral systems tend to encourage the emergence of two large parties rather than a variety of small parties. With a few exceptions, all PR systems have more than two major parties.

Many democracies restrict their citizen's involvement in the affairs of state to a vote that expresses their choice among potential political leaders. The states' policies are then set by the elected leaders, without any direct input from the voters. Some democracies, however, allow voters under some circumstances to choose directly, in an election, whether a given policy should be followed. Such an electoral choice is called a referendum.

Elections are common across the globe. Both autocracies and democracies make use of elections. Even of countries are not democratic they want to appear democratic. Aside from serving the obvious purpose; providing a means to select leaders and policies, elections serve as a means of building support. It allows the state to mobilize its people and to build up their support for the state by acting out support and participating in the process of government. There are two broad types of electoral systems; single member district plurality systems and proportional representation systems. Some democracies grant referendums to their people. They allow voters under some circumstances to choose directly in an election whether a given policy should be followed.