Proportional Representation by single transferable vote is the system used in Ireland to elect Dáil Éireann. I will be looking at how PR-STV is used within Ireland and the steps involved in the voting selection. I will also be looking at the positives and negatives of PR-STV within the Irish electoral system. PRSTV was first introduced in 1918 in a single local council within Sligo. The British government then introduced it into Ireland in 1920 (under British rule) and was then introduced into the Irish Free State constitution in 1922.
Cathy Kinsella 115369266 14 /March /2016 GV1102 Dr. Philip Murphy Proportional Representation by Single Transferrable Vote and the Irish political System. Proportional Representation by Single Transferrable Vote or (PR-STV) is the system used for election in Ireland since independence was achieved in 1922. This PRSTV voting system is crafted into the 1937 constitution and can only be changed by a referendum of the people. In both 1959 and 1968 referendums were held to decide whether or not PRSTV should be replaced by the single member (first past the post) plurality system however in both cases PRSTV remained. It is a system by which votes are used most efficiently however that may not mean they are used entirely effectively.
Once the votes have been cast understanding of the system becomes more hazy but it still stands that PR-STV is easily understood in the way in which the voter needs to grasp it. (Coakley and Gallagher,
Status Quo & Policy Alternatives Currently, sponsors of ballot initiative campaigns are not limited to a particular amount, which affords leverage such as expertise in public opinion polling, computer-targeted mailing, and television advertising to the wealthier party. To combat the defects of this form of direct democracy, reformers have proposed several policy alternatives. One alternative is to provide better information. According to a 2002 state commission and recent report by the Center for Governmental Studies, roughly a third of initiatives since 2000 have more than 5000 words, which is too long and too confusing for the majority of voters (Mathews and Paul, 173). Another alternative is to raise restrictions on the process (e.g.
But with majority voting system, the candidate has to receive more than fifty percent of votes to win. An important characteristic of FPTP is that only the first preference matters, all other information is useless for the outcome. This leads to a problem that voters may not reflect their real preferences. For example, voters may forecast the one who has the best chance to win, and candidates with least vote have to face the reality that they have no chance winning the election. Therefore, such information may change how they behave, and tactical voting is possible to change the outcome.
“It assumes that individual behavior is motivated by self-interest, utility maximization, or, more simply put, goal fulfillment.”(Petracca, 1991) According to this approach to politics, actors know what they want and they organize themselves to reach their objectives they and by ordering them in a transitive way. People have to evaluate what means to use to achieve their aims and this isn’t always an easy decision, but they do their best to chose the right instruments. The difficulty lies in the fact that the actions of one actor and his outcomes are correlated with the action of the others. So people must establish an equilibrium between their wills and the individual will select the best equilibrium actually available, keeping in mind others’ choices. (Riker, 1995) The paradox of voter turnout lies in the fact that, people, as rational actors, shouldn’t go to the polls, because the possibilities that their vote could be influential and decisive are nearly zero and the benefits do not help the individual but society as a whole.
Over the past couple of decades, perceived organizational politics (POP) has remained an important subject of inquiry in the field of organizational behavior and is commonly viewed as a source of detrimental consequences for organizational members.Politics, the perception of which varies from person to person, is an inevitable component of an organization's social fabric. Despite some discussion that some individuals thrive on politics, using it to their advantage through the development of political skill (Ferris, Perrewe, Anthony, & Gilmore, 2000), this treatment of POP has typically been made in reference to the upper organizational echelon of executives.Perceived politics can be summarized as having a generally positive relationship with
They might dig into who the person voted for, why they did so, and what issues were of greatest concern to them. Unlike other sociological perspectives, symbolic interactionism is more greatly influenced by personal opinion and perspective. Someone who considers themselves an Evangelical may be less likely to vote for a Presidential candidate who doesn’t oppose abortion. A woman who considers herself a feminist may be unlikely to vote for a Congressman who believes women shouldn’t work outside the home. These decisions may be less impacted by greater society trends as a whole.
Female candidates appear to systematically receive less votes than their male counterparts (Galligan 2009). To counteract this was suggested that a mixed system similar to the German mixed-list system be introduced. There has been some discussion of mixing STV and List, with some TDs elected in multi-seat STV constituencies and others elected on national party lists (Constitution 2012). Perhaps the clearest immediate benefit from such reform would be this ability to increase female and minority representation in the Dáil through this new closed national list. However it is not clear that this would be justified given that
The piece by Fiorina studied the relationship between presidential and congressional vote shares and the perceived economic conditions of voters. In his piece, Fiorina aimed to answer the following question: do citizens vote for or against the incumbent president’s party as a function of their personal economic condition? He evaluated the answer to this question by reviewing election survey responses conducted by the University of Michigan concerning the presidential elections between 1956 and 1974. He found that found that there is probably some support for economic retrospective voting in presidential elections, but little to no support in congressional elections. However, Fiorina cautions the reader from dismissing the idea that retrospective voting is a major factor in congressional elections because there are “other issues in the world besides the economy” and “voters might be “reacting to these when they cast their congressional vote” (Fiorina, 440).