Blog 7
Electoral rules are essential to
politics in any state. The impacts of
the electoral rules on the party system, though, differ tremendously from
country to country. Duverger’s Law
states that the effective number of parties in any electoral district is a
function of the electoral rules, referring to single-member district parties
and proportional representation (Learning Suite, Hawkins, 2012). Colombia is a country that does not hold
Duverger’s Law to be true.
Colombia’s voting system is a system
of proportional representation. In
theory this allows for more than two effective parties but this does not apply to
Colombia. Although it appears that Colombia
now has a multi-party system with three effective parties: Party of the U, the
Colombian Conservative Party, and the Colombian Liberal Party, according to the
formula to calculate the number for the effective number of parties, there are
two effective parties (Wikipedia Elections, 2012). Using the formula to calculate the number for
the effective number of parties, it calculates to be 1.99, or two effective
parties.
The most important electoral rules
include district magnitude, formula for seats,
whether the system is a hybrid, list structure (closed/nonpreferential or
open/preferential), and thresholds. District magnitude is how many seats
are allotted to each electoral district (Hawkins, Class lecture, 2012). The district magnitude of Colombia is at
least 2, with an additional representative for every 250,000 inhabitants
or for each fraction of more than 125,000 inhabitants that the department has
above the first 250,000 (IPU, 2012). Next, the formula referred to is the
mathematical formula used to allocate the seats according to the vote (Hawkins,
Class Lecture, 2012). For Colombia, it
is a proportional system with a party-list proportional representation system,
with remaining seats allocated on the basis of greatest remainders (IPU,
2012). These two factors alone, the
district magnitude and formula for seats according to vote, are able to tell a
plethora about the electoral systems of Colombia.
When a country has a hybrid system a
larger district is used to allocate additional seats and achieve greater
plurality usually using some kind of proportional representation, and a second
vote (Hawkins, Class Lecture, 2012). Colombia
is not a hybrid, and strictly uses proportional representation, with no second
vote. Next we approach the list
structure of the electoral system. Here
it is found that Colombia has a preferential list system for voting (Wikipedia,
list system). This means that parties
make lists of candidates to be elected, and seats get allocated to each party
in proportion to the number of votes the party receives (Wikipedia, party list
PR, 2012). Lastly, it is important to
recognize the thresholds in a country’s electoral system. The threshold means that a party is required
to receive a minimum amount of votes to have their votes count. Colombia does have a threshold, and when the
number is not met, the votes for that party do not count.
The electoral system in Colombia is
very interesting. Although it has a
proportional representation system, according to calculations there are only
two effective parties. Although it seems
there are contradictions in the electoral system of Colombia, in reality there
is just a combination of different rules that has worked for the country so
far, and does not pose a problem for the future.
Works
Cited
Hawkins, Political Science 150, Class
Lecture Notes, October 31, 2012.
Hawkins, Political Science 150, Learning
Suite, 2012, https://blackboard.byu.edu/student,home.0
IPU, Colombia, Electoral Systems, 2012,
http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2067_B.htm
Wikipedia, Elections in Colombia, 2012, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Colombia
Wikipedia, Lists in Electoral Rules,
2012,
Wikipedia, Party List PR, 2012,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party-list_proportional_representation
This is interesting because I also studied Colombia and I found the exact opposite results: Duverger's Law held true and I had 5 effective parties in my calculations.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think has prevented the rise of more effective parties? And how high is the threshold?
ReplyDeleteinteresting that it was 1.99 with a PR system.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting. South Africa had similar results - PR, but with 2.1 effective parties.
ReplyDelete