Political Science, proportional representation.

PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

United States is very used to its single member district in which winners get all . This is one of the reasons why the concept of Proportional Representation (PR ) might sound strange to many Americans The many different types of Proportional Representation system practiced all around the world might confuse Americans even further . However the fundamentals of PR are quite simple and straightforward

The principle behind Proportional Representation is that all voters get represented in elections and all political parties deserve to be represented in the government according to their

strength in the election . By incorporating successful PR everyone receives a right to fairly represent in the country

To be able to obtain a truly fair representation , certain characteristic are followed in the PR system . These characteristics help to set PR apart from the current American system . The chief characteristic is that all PR systems use multi-member districts . The way Americans elect one person in each district , the PR system elects several individuals The multi-member districts can consist of three to four members and sometimes even more than ten members

PR system also has the characteristic that seats are divided in the multi-member districts according to the number of votes received by candidates of the different political groups . If a party member won 40 of votes in his 10 member district , the party will be able to have 40 of the win four of the ten seats . This is the gist of how the proportional representation works

There are many advantages of PR and it impacts positively on representation . For instance , it is very common in the single member electorate to have safe seats . So political parties try to and win votes from the minorities which are in marginal seats . PR system ensures that every seat is marginal and parties must work hard to win all the voters . Once voters know that they are part of a change and their voices are being heard , they will automatically start taking more interest in politics . Several candidates are endorsed for every multi-member electorate by the major parties . Voters are given the choice to elect between different parties and different people from the same party . As opposed to this the single member electorate has political parties and the divisions within the party having control over who gets to be elected

The most important thing is that PR ensures that the elected body represents everyone from all racial and ethnic minorities . Many studies carried out in Cincinnati where proportional representation was used produced fairer representation for racial and ethnic minorities

Some of the reasons why America hasn 't used the Proportional Representation system include the fact that it demands voters to have greater knowledge of party beliefs /manifestos and expects more activity from the voters . It is also complex , expensive and time-consuming to manage and calculate . This procedure might prove to be too difficult for many Americans . Another factor working against the PR system is that coalition governments formed as a result...