Page 303 - DPOL202_COMPARATIVE_POLITICS_AND_GOVERNMENT_ENGLISH

Comparative Politics and Government

Notes • The system of proportional representation may be appreciated for several reasons. It is said
that it is the best way to ensure representation to all sections of the people as far as possible.
• A voter may cast, his vote for one candidate in a multi-member constituency. A minimum
number of votes is fixed and a candidate securing that point is declared elected. It is also provided
that those who vote for a candidate who fails to be sucessful, may vote again for others so that
the unfilled posts may be filled up.
• The system of functional representation has been suggested by a good number of social and
political theorists as a better and more efficacious alternative to the system of territorial
representation. It desires that the basis of representation should not be the territorial distribution
of seats or even the selection of the representatives on the basis of some proportion, rather it
should be according to the occupational composition of the society.
• “All true and democratic representation is, therefore, functional representation... It follows that
there must be in the society as many separately elected groups of representatives as there are
distinct groups of functions to be performed”.
• The constitutions of Yugoslavia and Poland provided for the establishment of advisory councils
(consisting of functional representatives) to collaborate with the legislature in the formulation
of projects of legislation in regard to social and economic problems.
• It is just for this reason that the system of territorial representation is considered to be the best
one in the midst of other systems of representation in order to apply it to a democratic state.
• The formula of ‘one person, one vote’ should be scrupulously adhered to. Thus, any
discrimination on artificial grounds like those of property in Portugal.
• Representation should be given to the really competent and incorruptible people. The system
of representative democracy demands from the representative the duty to devote himself to the
cause of public service and this important function cannot be discharged unless the deputy
chosen by the people is both competent and immune from the bonds of material temptations. It
becomes the sacred duty of the voters themselves to see that their choice goes for the really
deserving politicians.
• The number of political parties should be controlled. Laws should be made for the regulation of
party system. Statutory provisions can be made for granting recognition to political parties on
the basis of election results as we have in our country.
• The subject of ‘representativeness’ has not yet been properly discussed. It is also deplorable
that the representatives of the people have also done a lot to devalue their own position by
showing indifference to the norms of proper representation.
• Most political scientists believe that since voting in elections is the main way in which ordinary
citizens in all democracies actually participate in their nations’ governing processes, voting
turnout—the percentage of all the people eligible to vote who actually do so—is one of the most
important indicators of any democratic system’s health.
• When voting turnout is calculated in exactly the same way in the United States as it is in other
democracies—as a percentage of registered voters— the American record looks much better.
The point, though technical, is important. In America, as in most of the world’s other democracies,
citizens’ names must appear on voting registers before they can legally vote. But the United
States differs from other nations in one important respect: in most other countries, getting on
the register requires no effort by the voter.
• In the United States, the combination of separation of powers, federalism, the direct primary,
and, at the state and local level, the initiative and referendum means that citizens may be faced
with several hundred electoral decisions in a period of four years. At the national level, voters
are called on to vote in the presidential primaries of their parties, and in the general election to
decide (mostly) between the Democratic and Republican candidates.
• An election is the one opportunity people have to influence government directly. Every citizen
aged 18 or over is eligible to vote. Local government officials register voters, and the list is
revised annually, ensuring that nearly everyone eligible to vote is actually registered. Turnout
at general elections has averaged 77 percent since 1950.

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