Deck 7: Electoral Systems: The Core of Democratic Politics

Question 1

What is external voting?

A)votes for a party that come from non-party members
B)votes that are made after the official election day
C)votes that come from citizens outside the country
D)votes made by non-citizens inside the country

Answer 1

votes that come from citizens outside the country

Question 2

Compared to other regions of the world, what is the level of voter turnout in Latin America?

A)above average
B)average
C)below average
D)below average only in countries with compulsory voting

Answer 2

average

Question 3

Recent downward trends in voter turnout throughout Latin America can be attributed to:

A)the novelty of democratic practices
B)negative campaigning
C)dissatisfaction with government
D)the growth of political parties

Answer 3

dissatisfaction with government

Question 4

Which type of electoral design is best designed to hold individual politicians accountable to voters?

A)a high district magnitude
B)a largest remainder method of voting
C)a closed and blocked voting list
D)a majoritarian voting formula

Question 5

Which type of electoral design would best allow a small party that caters to narrow interests to survive?

A)a low district magnitude
B)a largest remainder method of voting
C)a high electoral threshold
D)a hybrid system

Question 6

Party system fragmentation can be associated with:

A)low district magnitude
B)a high electoral threshold
C)compulsory voting
D)proportional representation

Question 7

District magnitude refers to:

A)the electoral threshold
B)the level of malapportionment
C)the number of representatives in a district
D)the percentage of votes required to win an election

Question 8

Which of the following tends to reduce the proportionality of proportional representation in Latin America?

A)low district magnitudes
B)low electoral thresholds
C)compulsory voting
D)external voting

Question 9

If five parties are running in a district with 10 seats, what is the effective threshold?

A)10%
B)20%
C)40%
D)50%

Question 10

The use of electoral thresholds creates a trade-off between:

A)parties with nationwide appeal vs. parties with regional appeal
B)constituency service vs. party discipline
C)malapportionment vs. voter turnout
D)voters from abroad vs. voters in the country

Question 11

Which of the following elements of an electoral system would best create parties with nationwide appeal and high levels of party discipline?

A)a majoritarian system with a low electoral threshold
B)an open and unblocked proportional representation system with low district magnitude
C)a closed and blocked proportional representation system with a high electoral threshold
D)a majoritarian system with high district magnitude

Question 12

Which of the following best reduces party system fragmentation?

A)a high district magnitude
B)fused voting
C)proportional representation
D)a low electoral threshold

Question 13

If a country uses one large district to elect all members of a legislative body, what is the trade-off?

A)more proportional representation, but weaker ties between voters and politicians
B)less proportional representation, but greater party discipline
C)less proportional representation, but greater party fragmentation
D)more proportional representation, but more malapportionment

Question 14

What is fused voting?

A)the requirement that all citizens must vote
B)the prohibition of voting for different parties on the same ballot
C)the holding of national and local elections on the same day
D)when a voter defaces the ballot

Question 15

Which type of ballot structure best encourages party discipline?

A)A closed and blocked ballot.
B)A closed and unblocked ballot.
C)An open and unblocked ballot.
D)Ballot structure has no impact on party discipline.

Question 16

Which of the following combinations would best favor small parties?

A)Hare quota, low district magnitude, high threshold
B)D'Hondt formula, low district magnitude, low threshold
C)D'Hondt formula, high district magnitude, high threshold
D)Hare quota, high district magnitude, low threshold

Question 17

Which PR electoral system produces the highest "winner's bonus"?

A)Hare
B)D'Hondt
C)Sainte Lagüe
D)Modified Sainte Lagüe

Question 18

How might a proportional representation system be designed to better encourage constituency service?

A)fused voting
B)an ordinal ballot structure
C)gerrymandering
D)high voting threshold

Question 19

Which group has most benefited from malapportionment in Latin America?

A)rural, conservative groups
B)urban, working-class groups
C)suburban, middle-class groups
D)rural, indigenous groups

Question 20

Generally speaking, what is the consequence of scheduling a presidential election concurrently with legislative elections?

A)stronger constituency service
B)less party discipline
C)a smaller number of parties
D)malapportionment

Question 21

Presidential elections with majority run-off rules pose what sort of trade-off?

A)They increase the legitimacy of a presidential winner, but tend to produce a more fragmented legislature.
B)They reduce the legitimacy of a presidential winner, but create parties with stronger discipline.
C)They increase the constituency service of a president, but create parties with weaker discipline.
D)They increase the legitimacy of the presidential winner, but decrease the president's willingness to work with political parties.

Question 22

In its ideal form, who is the primary decision-maker under direct democracy?

A)congresspersons
B)bureaucrats
C)citizens
D)local municipal officials

Question 23

Which of the following is associated with the use of direct democracy?

A)constituency service
B)populism
C)fused voting
D)gerrymandering

Question 24

As voters gain more confidence in elections, how might an electoral management board change?

A)from more partisan to expert-based membership criteria
B)from a mixed recruitment model to partisan-based recruitment
C)from less to more autonomy from government
D)from presidential-based appointments to congressional-based appointments

Question 25

Which of the following best describes the relationship between Bolivia's Evo Morales and the indigenous?

A)The indigenous represent his most significant opposition.
B)The indigenous remain unmotivated by Evo Morales.
C)Evo Morales has actively repressed the indigenous.
D)Evo Morales may have overestimated his support from the indigenous.

Question 26

Generally speaking, electoral rules can be changed more easily than any other regime institution.

Question 27

Some Latin American countries do not allow soldiers to vote.

Question 28

In Latin America, majoritarian systems are far more common than proportional representation systems.

Question 29

An electoral system must choose between majoritarian and proportional representation. It cannot mix them.

Question 30

Apportionment refers to the drawing of constituency lines.

Question 31

Gerrymandering refers to the manipulation of district lines to favor some parties over others.

Question 32

Malapportionment in Latin America tends to favor urban, working-class areas.

Question 33

In a PR electoral system, an open list would be more closely associated with constituency service than would be a closed list.

Question 34

In practice, fused voting gives voters just one vote for several offices.

Question 35

An electoral formula with biases cannot be considered democratic.

Question 36

Small parties tend to win more seats in a legislature when the election is held concurrently with the presidential election.

Question 37

The details of an electoral system are found in the constitution.

Question 38

Recent trends have seen countries in Latin America removing presidential term limits.

Question 39

Direct democracy guarantees the legislature a role in policymaking.

Question 40

The electoral cycle begins when campaigning starts, and ends the moment all votes have been counted.

Question 41

Identify and describe the five main components of an electoral system.

Question 42

If you were the leader of a regionally based political party, how could you design an electoral system to best serve your own personal interests?

Question 43

Proportional representation places a priority on the representation of diverse
interests. What other parts of an electoral system might work to undermine this priority?

Question 44

What sort of values do you think are most important to the design of electoral systems? Which procedures and institutions would best support these values?

Question 45

How can foreign actors support electoral procedures? What are the advantages and disadvantages to allowing foreign actors to play this role?