Electoral systems in Australia and Germany - a comparative study

Anke Bartl

• Publisher: GRIN Verlag
• Year: 2003
• eBook ISBN: 9783638222006
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Diplomacy & Treaties
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Essay from the year 2003 in the subject Politics - Region: Australia, New Zealand, grade: Distinction, Flinders University (Social Sciences), course: Australian Politcs a comparative study, language: English, abstract: This essay aims to explain the differences between preferential and proportionalsystems of voting and the consequences of these systems in Australia. Theelectoral system of Germany is examined in comparison.Why are electoral systems so important? Through elections, citizens of a countycan express their views and choose the government they wish to see in power.Therefore, the electoral system is one of the significant features of a democracyand a representative government. The political outcome of an election can varygreatly depending on which of the different types (and/or variations of each type)of systems is in effect. Hence, the organisation of the political system stronglydepends on the electoral system.1The impacts of electoral systems on the political and party system will beexamined after looking at the two systems of voting used in Australia at theCommonwealth/ Federal level: the preferential voting system and the system ofproportional representation.Preferential voting in single-member seats is used for elections for the House ofRepresentatives and is also often referred to as Alternative Vote.2 A distinctivefeature of this voting system is that the winning candidate needs to receive anabsolute majority of the primary vote, in other words 50% plus one. Alternatively, the candidate can win the election by securing an absolute majority after thedistribution of preferences. 3Under a system of full preferential voting, electors must indicate a preference forall candidates listed on the ballot paper. Voters show their first preference bygiving the number "1" to their preferred candidate. They then rank all othercandidates by distributing the remaining numbers in descending order from 2 to X(X = the number of candidates taking part in the election).In the first round of counting votes, the numbers of primary votes are registered. [...]1 David W. Lovell et al., The Australian Political System, (2nd edition), Longman, SouthMelbourne, 1998, p. 269.2 Ben Reilly, 'The Alternative Vote in Australia', 6 March 1999, Electoral Systems, Administration and Cost of Elections Project, consulted 2 June 2003