Blog 7

Blog 7

            A countries electoral system has a great impact on how political parties will effect government. Even though a country may have a multitude of political parties, only those that receive the most votes will be able to have the greatest influence in government and policy making. A country’s specific electoral rules will help determine whether or not a country will have few or many influential political parties. One way to determine whether or not a country will have few or many influential parties is by Duverger’s Law. Duverger’s Law states that the effective number of parties in any electoral district is a function of the electoral rules. It continues to say that that Single-Member District Plurality (SMDP) rules produce two effective parties, while proportional representation rules allow for more, depending on whether or not there are multiple social cleavages.

            Poland’s most recent election was held in 2011. 460 seats were available and the results were as follows: the Civic Platform (PO) received 39.18% of the votes which correlates to 207 seats, the Law and Justice Party (PiS) received 29.89% of the votes which correlates to 157 seats, the Palikot Movement (RP) received 10.02% of the votes which correlates to 40 seats, the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) received 8.36% which correlates to 28 seats, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) received 8.24% of the vote which correlates to 27 seats and finally the German Minority received 0.19% of the vote which correlates to 1 seat (IPU).

            At first glance it would seem that Poland has two effective parties in government and policy making. However, using the information that is supplied above, by taking the percent of seats won by different parties, squaring each percent, adding the results of each squared percent and then dividing one by the sum of all the squared percentages will tell you the correct number of effective parties. By following this equation for Poland’s last election, the result shows that Poland has three effective parties in government. This also shows that Duverger’s Law holds true for Poland.

            Poland’s voting system is based on proportional representation. The country is broken up into 41 multi-member (719 seats) constituencies for a total of 460 seats (IPU). The distribution of seats is affected by the modified Saint-Lague method, which means that parties win seats according to the aggregate vote for their candidates in a constituency, and then to those with highest totals (IPU). One thing that I found to be very interesting is that at least 35% of the candidates have to be female and 35% of the candidates have to be male (IPU). The following is a list of thresholds within their electoral system: for participation in the allocation of seats within their electoral system. 5% of the total votes cast for party list and 8% for a coalition list, vacancies arising between general elections are filled by the individual who is next in-line on the list of the party which formerly held the seat, and voting is not compulsory (IPU). The one exception s that national minorities’ lists are exempt from threshold requirements.

            Duverger’s Law proves that Poland is a multi-party system that has multiple effective parties because of its proportional representation electoral system.

Sources

"IPU Parline database: Poland (Sejm)." Inter-Parliamentary Union. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2255_B.htm>.

"IPU Parline database: Poland (Sejm)." Inter-Parliamentary Union. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. <http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2255_E.htm>.