The Role Of The Voting System In Athenian Democracy

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Introduction People do not have the same opportunities when they are born. They differ by wealth, family income, status in the society, degree of education. Therefore they need a government that is able to reduce the inequality in the society by redistributing wealth. First elections started in Greece. In the “Introduction to the Athenian democracy of the fifth and fourth centuries BCE” it is written that in ancient Greece only around fifth part of population was able to vote. The men from middle class and upper class could participate in voting and be elected, while freed slaves, women and foreign citizens did not possess such rights. These two voting classes were wealthy, owned land, got large profits from it, their basic needs were satisfied therefore they had time to form a government. As the time passed the things changed …show more content…

It is viewed as the combination of majoritarian (first-past-the-post) and party list electoral representation. Electors need to vote twice: for the single member candidate in constituency and party. The voting can be complex and confusing process. The votes can be wasted as the result of wrongly filling the ballot. The system is favorable for women and people from minority groups. The number of women in the government increases. McCaffrey and Egerton provide statistics for Scottish Parliament and Wales: In Scotland, the number of women elected in 2011 was 45, resulting in the second lowest number of women MSPs in four Scottish Parliament elections at 35%. The 2007 election produced the lowest number at 33%. The 2011 election led to only a slight improvement in the number of black and minority ethnic members (BME) of the National Assembly for Wales and Scottish Parliament: in both places they doubled, to

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