Single Member Plurality Electoral System
- The Fallacy of the Single Member Plurality Electoral System
Government efficiency is dependent on the capacity of the government to make decisions that mirror the views of the majority. This would require municipal representatives to be elected by at least half of the voters. This has not been the case in Canada. Electoral reform has been a highly debated issue throughout Canadian politics. Currently, Canada’s electoral system is being questioned for its inability to reflect the political views of its citizens. The single member plurality system (SMP), which Canada employs to fabricate a democratic election, can cause representatives to be elected without the majority of the popular vote. In contrast, the system of proportional representation eliminates an inequity in parliament composition by ensuring representation from every party that received votes. Although this system would inevitably result in minority governments, …show more content…
Voter turnout has been decreasing steadily as more people have come to the realization that their votes will not necessarily be accounted for. In Jeffrey Simpson’s book, The Friendly Dictatorship, the author reveals that “only 61 per cent of eligible Canadians bothered to vote in 2000, the lowest turnout by far since the Second World War”(Simpson, 144). It is important to note that Canada counts voter turnout by the number of people who vote in relation to the number of people on the electoral list. Since not everyone eligible to vote gets on the electoral list, the numbers are actually far lower than they appear. With a large number of eligible voters staying home, elected MPs do not have a real mandate to represent their constituents. This discrepancy has the potential to produce an ineffective government and a discontent amid the members of society. It has become increasingly important to determine the cause of this decreased interest in
Government efficiency is dependent on the capacity of the government to make decisions that mirror the views of the majority. This would require municipal representatives to be elected by at least half of the voters. This has not been the case in Canada. Electoral reform has been a highly debated issue throughout Canadian politics. Currently, Canada’s electoral system is being questioned for its inability to reflect the political views of its citizens. The single member plurality system (SMP), which Canada employs to fabricate a democratic election, can cause representatives to be elected without the majority of the popular vote. In contrast, the system of proportional representation eliminates an inequity in parliament composition by ensuring representation from every party that received votes. Although this system would inevitably result in minority governments, …show more content…
Voter turnout has been decreasing steadily as more people have come to the realization that their votes will not necessarily be accounted for. In Jeffrey Simpson’s book, The Friendly Dictatorship, the author reveals that “only 61 per cent of eligible Canadians bothered to vote in 2000, the lowest turnout by far since the Second World War”(Simpson, 144). It is important to note that Canada counts voter turnout by the number of people who vote in relation to the number of people on the electoral list. Since not everyone eligible to vote gets on the electoral list, the numbers are actually far lower than they appear. With a large number of eligible voters staying home, elected MPs do not have a real mandate to represent their constituents. This discrepancy has the potential to produce an ineffective government and a discontent amid the members of society. It has become increasingly important to determine the cause of this decreased interest in