Prof Sarah Birch of University of Glasgow on electoral systems and democratisation. KLSCAH, Kuala Lumpur. 2014.07.13. Thanks.
Text of Electoral systems and democratisation - Prof Sarah Birch
Retaining power through elections: when "democracy" enables
autocracy Sarah Birch University of Glasgow 13 July 2014
Democracy and elections Elections are crucial to democracy as
generally understood in todays world But democracy is not crucial
to elections Elections took place long before democracy existed
Thus elections are not necessarily democratic
Authoritarianism and elections Authoritarian leaders often use
elections to their advantage Elections serve to communicate the
agenda and views of authoritarian leaders Elections help distribute
resources within an authoritarian regime via patronage and
co-optation Elections can help authoritarian leaders to monitor the
population (and the opposition) Elections provide a veneer of
legitimacy, even when beset by malpractice
Electoral malpractice Electoral malpractice can be understood
as taking three main forms: the manipulation of electoral
institutions the manipulation of vote choice and the manipulation
of voting Typically authoritarian leaders seek to use all three
strategies, though the first and the second are less risky than the
third
Electoral systems and political power The manipulation of
electoral institutions is a powerful way of maintaining power while
at the same time also retaining a certain amount of democratic
legitimacy There are many electoral institutions that can be
manipulated, in many cases with a view to facilitating other forms
of malpractice The electoral system in the narrow sense is a common
object of manipulation
Electoral systems First-past-the-post (single-member
constituency plurality): developed because geographic
representation made sense Proportional representation: developed in
the late 19th century following the industrial revolution when
party representation made more sense Mixed systems: developed after
the Second World War as a means of retaining the benefits of both
geographic representation and proportional representation
Electoral systems and electoral malpractice I
First-part-the-post electoral systems are particularly convenient
for authoritarian leaders as they are winner-take- all systems that
magnify power at the constituency level and often also at the
aggregate level First-past-the-post electoral systems also invite
boundary manipulation, which can enable a party to retain power for
long periods on the basis of the support of a minority of the
population Boundary manipulation can involve malapportionment,
gerrymandering, or manipulation of the eligible population
Electoral systems and electoral malpractice II Single-member
electoral systems such as first-past-the-post increase
opportunities and incentives for manipulation of the vote
Candidates have an incentive to cultivate a personal support base
This can lead to bribery and patronage, or at the least to
pork-barrel politics In tight races, small numbers of votes need to
be altered in order to change the outcome
Elections and democratisation Free and fair elections are
necessary for genuine democratisation Typically this requires
changes to the electoral system It also requires a change of
attitude by leaders, who need to be prepared to accept power
sharing, compromise and losing Democracy is about accountable rule,
but it is also about being prepared to play the role of holding
others to account.
The electoral tango I Often elections have to get worse before
they get better Today, paper rights in the electoral sphere are
typically given Rights are violated through the implementation of
elections This means that rights are episodically taken away,
generating episodic grievances This creates huge potential for
popular mobilisation against electoral malpractice
The electoral tango II Protest is most likely to occur when (a)
elections have been of poor quality for a while and (b) elections
get worse at a specific election In the contemporary world,
significant electoral reform, leading to a genuine improvement in
election quality, tends to come about following popular protests
against electoral malpractice This means that elections often have
to get worse before they get better - one step back then two steps
forward