Transcript Elections and Public Policy

Elections and
Public Policy
Electoral systems
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Electoral systems are the rules that decide how votes are cast
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Some countries use a first-past-the-post system in which their
constituencies are divided into single-member districts where
candidates compete for a single representative’s seat
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This system is also called a plurality system, or a winner take all system
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This is the case because a winner does not need a majority to win, but simply must
get more cotes than anyone else
Electoral systems
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Many countries also use a proportional representation system
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These systems normally have multi-member districts, meaning there are
multiple legislative seats in each district
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The percentage of votes cast for each party determine the amount of seats
that party receives in the legislature
Some countries also use a mixed system that combines first-past-thepost and proportional systems
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A portion of the legislature is determined by single member districts
while another portion is determined by proportional voting
Types of Elections
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Election of public officals
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Referendum
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These are public votes on particular policy issues
Plebiscite
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This type of election is where members of the government are elected
into office
This is a direct vote by all members of an electorate on an important
public question such as a change in the constitution
Initiative
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An initiative is a vote on policy initiated by the people
Public Policy
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Common policy issues include:
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Economic performance
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Economic performance is measured in a variety of ways
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Gross Domestic Produce (GDP)- This is all the goods and services by produced by
a country’s economy in a given year within the nations borders
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Gross National Product (GNP)- This takes GDP and adds all goods and services
created by a country outside of the countries borders
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GDP Per Capita- This is GDP divided across the population of a country
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GNP Per Capita- This is GNP divided across the population of a country
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Purchasing Power Parity- This uses GNP but takes into consideration what people
can buy using their income in the local economy
Public Policy
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Social Welfare
Some measures of social welfare are literacy rates, distribution of income, life
expectancy, and education levels
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The Gini index measures the amount of economic inequality in a society.
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The Gini index works on a scale of 0-100. 0 means perfect equality and 100 means complete
inequality
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The Human Development Index (HDI) measures the well-being of a country’s people by
factoring in adult literacy, life expectancy, and educational enrollment, as well as GDP.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index
The Environmental Performance Index ranks how well countries perform on high-priority
environmental issues in two broad policy areas: protection of human health from
environmental harm and protection of ecosystems
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http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI
http://epi.yale.edu/epi
The Corruptions Perceptions Index scores countries on how corrupt their public sectors
are seen to be
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http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/results/
Public Policy
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Civil liberties, political rights, and political freedom
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Political rights refer to promotion of equality
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Civil liberties refer to promotion of freedom
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Freedom House studies and ranks countries on a scale of 1-7
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A score of 1 is extremely free and a score of 7 is extremely not free
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http://www.freedomhouse.org/report-types/freedom-world#.U-odHvldWtY
Environment