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Canadian Electoral Reform

The seats will be awarded to those at the top of the party list. Using this party list system, no riding will have one specific MP representing their constituency, instead representation will be diversified through an array of different parties. In a mixed-member proportional system, the legislature is divided in half by members elected through SMP and by the party list system. The key concept behind these two PR systems is that MPs are elected in proportion to the actual number of popular votes their party has received. .
             The greatest disadvantage of single member plurality is its inhibiting effect on voter turnout. 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 voting.
             A feasible reason is that SMP does not truly represent the political diversity of the electorate. Firstly, SMP causes reluctance in people, who support fringe and smaller parties, to vote. Knowing that the winning candidate can be elected by only one more vote than the others is enough to instill a sense of hopelessness in voters.


Essays Related to Canadian Electoral Reform

1. A Guide to the Canadian Government

" Reforming the government is also a major part of the Canadian government. ... A people known, the fundamental goal of elections and electoral reform isn't to serve the needs of political parties. Rather, the goal of elections and electoral reform is to give citizens a voice in choosing their government. ... " The main focus of electoral reform is and ought to be, not the political party, rather the voter. ... These electoral districts are revised and drawn up by independent electoral boundaries commissions. ...

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2. Proportional Representation

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3. Social Movements And Political

However, because the traditional Canadian political parties, the Liberals and Conservatives, have constantly changed their ideological principles to suite their electoral purposes, the Canadian party system has evolved into a brokerage system. ... The movement's acceptance of established parties and the electoral process helped foster the idea that change would be impossible without integration into the already established parties. ... These early initiatives helped the movement realize that the willingness of the Liberal governments to deal with their issues meant that reform by the st...

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4. social movements and political

However, because the traditional Canadian political parties, the Liberals and Conservatives, have constantly changed their ideological principles to suite their electoral purposes, the Canadian party system has evolved into a brokerage system. ... The movement's acceptance of established parties and the electoral process helped foster the idea that change would be impossible without integration into the already established parties. ... These early initiatives helped the movement realize that the willingness of the Liberal governments to deal with their issues meant that reform by the st...

  • Word Count: 3983
  • Approx Pages: 16
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. Canadian interest group

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6. Jean Louis Papineau

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7. FDR

He also won the electoral 472 to 59. ... He received 27,751,491 popular votes and carried 46 states with 523 electoral votes. His opponent only received 16,679,491 popular votes to go with 8 electoral. ... Roosevelt received 27,243,466 popular votes and 449 electoral votes, compared to Wilkie who received 22,334,413 popular votes and 82 electoral votes. ... Roosevelt received 25,602,505 votes and 432 electoral votes and his Republican opponent received 22,013,372 popular votes and 99 electoral votes. ...

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8. Political Party Reforms for a Stronger Democracy

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  • Approx Pages: 16
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9. Political Parties

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