Friday January 16th

Parliamentary vs. Presidential System
-competition for power is inherent in democracy; if any side wins competition, democracy is threatened
-w/o separation of powers and checks and balances, power can be abused, thus they are beneficial for democracy
-oversight slows down decision making
-separation of powers does not guarantee checks and balances
-strong separation exists in presidential system b/c of electorate

Elections
-Nat'l ballots choose parties or individuals for executive office
-Electoral Constituency: districts
-1st past post: reduces competition by limiting parties, has single member districts (one winner), candidate with largest number of votes is chosen, losing votes essentially wasted, leads to 2 party dominated legislature, variation: runoff system- majority vote is needed and thus often requires re-voting
-proportional representation: used by most democracies, decreases number of wasted votes, multi member districts with number of seats distributed in accordance with percentage of votes gained, voters choose parties rather than candidates, results in very powerful political parties, voters are more likely to vote for a small party, helps minority find a voice in the gov't
-some countries combine the two
-some countries allow citizens to vote on policy through referendum, though others believe common people are unqualified to vote on policy
-competitive elections are essential to democracy, more competition=more democracy