Proportional Representation
Somevoting systems, but in particular the plurality system, can have the
effect of distributing electoral gains in a very uneven fashion. Proportional
representation refers to any method of election which seeks to ensure that
minorities as well as majorities and pluralities are adequately represented in the
legislature, and which distributes seats or units of legislative representation in
accordance with the proportion of the vote recorded in the whole electoral
division. There are many different methods of translating votes into such units
and indeed an infinite variety of redistributional formulae. Two major distinc-
tions, however, may be made. In some countries (for example Ireland) the
voting and allocation of seats is done on a constituency basis with individual
candidates. In others (for example Israel and the Netherlands) voting occurs on
the basis of aparty list system. In elections to the Israeli legislature a voter
may not indicate a preference for an individual candidate since the voting is
entirely on a list system, and indeed there are no constituencies since the whole
country is treated as a single entity. Proportional representation of one form or
another is the norm in Western democracies, except for the Anglo-American
systems of North America, the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
While it is undoubtedly ‘fairer’ in some sense, there is a strong tradition that
holds that proportional representation produces weak governments by giving
representation to too many small political parties, requiring complex and
vulnerable coalitions. Certainly constitutions drawn up expressly to strengthen
government stability, such as those of post-war Germany and the FrenchFifth
Republic, have sought to limit the full effect of proportionality, and have
performed favourably compared to more fully proportional systems, such as
that of pre-1993 Italy. It is also widely considered that, by granting representa-
tion to such small parties, proportional systems permit groups and individuals
from the extremes of the political spectrum to receive publicity and thereby
improve their standing—the increasingly strong electoral performances of far-
right groups in continental Europe in the 1990s and early 2000s were cited in
support of this view.
Public Choice Theory
Public choice theory is little more than a detailed application ofrational
choice theoryto a wide area of political decision making. It self-consciously
applies economic analysis to, for example, the design of constitutions, the
behaviour of bureaucrats, or the strategies of pressure groups. It very frequently
employs the intricate mathematics of economic analysis, especially that branch
known as ‘comparative statics’ in micro-economics. The difference between
self-styled public choice theorists and other social scientists applying rational
choice theory, is largely one of the analyst’s values. Public choice theorists are
Public Choice Theory