Langara College

POLI SCI 1100

Chapter 7: 1. Universal Suffrage: The right of all adult citizens to vote regardless of characteristics like gender, ethnicity, wealth, or education 2. Gerrymander: Manipulation of the division of the country into electoral district to benefit a particular party 3. Electoral System: The system used to translate peoples votes into the composition of the legislature and the selection of the government 4. Single member plurality system (SMP): Electoral system in which voters in each electoral district elect a single representative to the legislature. The candidate with the most votes is elected, even if that candidate did not receive the majority of votes. 5. Electoral college: A body that elects the President of the US. Members of the electoral college from each state vote for the presidential candidate who has won the most votes in their state. 6. Runoff election: An election held if no candidate receives a majority of votes, generally, only top two candidates are on the ballot to ensure winning candidate has a majority. 7. Preferential ballot: An electoral system in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate has the majority of first preferences, the candidate with the least votes is dropped, and the second preferences of those who voted for that candidate are added to the votes of other candidates. This process continues until one candidate has a majority. 8. Proportional representation system (PR): Electoral system in which the proportion of seats a party wins reflects the proportion of votes it obtained. 9. Coalition government: A form of government in which two or more parties jointly govern and share the cabinet positions. 10. Mixed member proportional system (MMP): Electoral system in which some legislators are elected to be represent particular electoral districts based on gaining the most votes in that district, while others are elected based on the popular vote received by their party. 11. Single transferable vote system (STV): An electoral system in which voters rank order their preferences for candidates in a multimember electoral district. Candidates who receive a certain proportion of the votes are declared elected. The second preference of a voter that is surplus to what the winning candidate needs is then transferred to that voters second preference candidate. The process is continued until all seats in the district are filled. 12. Party identification: A long term attachment to a particular political party 13. Valence issues: Issues on which contending parties differ as to which party is the most competent to deal with a problem rather than taking different positions as to what should be done.