3 Disadvantages

3.1 "Unfairness"

The most commonly expressed disadvantage – perhaps because it is easiest to express and explain – of first-past-the-post is that it is "unfair", i.e. that substantial bodies of opinion are not represented at all in the final result, and that a party may obtain a clear majority without popular support at that level.

3.2 Tactical voting

First-past-the-post encourages the tactical voting technique known as "compromising": voters are encouraged to vote for one of the two options most likely to win, even if it is not their most preferred option. In the above example, voters from Chattanooga and Knoxville may "compromise" by voting for Nashville, which they prefer to Memphis.

If enough voters vote using this tactic, the first-past-the-post system becomes a form of runoff voting where the first round is held in the court of public opinion. This can give substantial power to the media as voters will tend to believe their viewpoint on who the leading contenders are likely to be in the election and use that viewpoint to decide where a "tactical" vote would be (in the voter's opinion) best used. This can also become a system promoting votes against more so than votes for.

One consequence of the system is that many FPTP elections can be considered won before all votes are tallied, once there are no longer enough uncounted votes to override an established plurality count. Though not necessarily a disadvantage, this can produce a feeling of disenfranchisement among voters when running tallies are reported through the media.

3.3 Anomalous results

An interesting anomaly in the results of this system arose in the Canadian federal election of 1926 for the province of Manitoba. The province was entitled to 17 seats in that election. The result was very different from how people voted.

Political party	Percentage of votes	Number of seats
Conservatives	42.2%	0
Labour Progressives	19.5%	7
Liberals	18.4%	4
Progressives	11.2%	4
Labour	8.7%	2

The Conservatives clearly had the largest number of votes across the province, but received no seats at all. The other parties were able to have success by having concentrated support in particular constituencies, and by not running candidates in others.

This presents a problem because the parties tend to narrowly focus on the needs and well-beings of specific electoral districts where they can be sure to win seats, rather than be sensitive to the sentiments of voters everywhere. In order to secure election results, some also choose to use redistricting to distort election results by enclosing party voters together in one electoral district (i.e., gerrymandering.)

3.4 Duverger's law

Because of these anomalies and the tactical-voting tendencies, Duverger's law predicts that constituencies that use first-past-the-post systems will become two-party systems.

3.5 Strong government

Because first-past-the-post is held to produce strong government (see below), it follows that those who prefer weak government (government unable to effectively introduce social change or legislative progress) might see strong government as a disadvantage of that system. Preference for weak goverment is obviously likely to be found in the corrupt, but also in many other people who favour the status quo, who favour curtailing the power of government, or do not favour the direction any majority party is likely to take.

3.6 Wipe out and clean sweep results

Since FPTP combined with single member constituencies generate a winner's bonus, if not winner takes all, the loyal opposition can be left with few if any seats.

An opposition that is weak or absent, because of an electoral wipeoutAn election might be judged to have a lopsided or wipeout result if the winning party wins far more seats than its share of the votes would justify, winning most if not all of the seats. Since a strong opposition capable of developing alterate policies an, is not good for good governance. Provincal elections in several Canadian provinces provide suitable examplesAn election might be judged to have a lopsided or wipeout result if the winning party wins far more seats than its share of the votes would justify, winning most if not all of the seats. Since a strong opposition capable of developing alterate policies an.

This is the missing corollary of strong-government arguement for FPTP.

4 Advantages

4.1 Strong govermnent

It is argued that, because first-past-the-post is more likely to produce a simple majority for one party, this produces a stronger government. When difficult decisions or strong leadership are required for the good of the voters, a government is not distracted by the constant need to negotiate within the legislature. In addition, the need to govern leads to coalitions, which may give disproportionate power to a party with limited popular support, simply because the largest party sees them as "enemies of their enemies". In the UK, arguments for first-past-the-post often look to ItalyItaly has been a democratic republic since June 2, 1946, when the monarchy was abolished by popular referendum (see Birth of the Italian Republic). The constitution was promulgated on January 1, 1948. The Italian State is highly centralized, with a centra where the frequent government changeovers are presented as undesirable.

4.2 Simplicity

First-past-the-post may well be the simplest of all voting systems. This implies specific advantages. It is likely to be quicker, and easier to adminster; this may also imply that an election costs less to run. It may also have an effect on voters, because it is easy to explain and understand. Alternative voting systems may alienate some voters who find the systems hard to understand, and who therefore feel detached from the direct effect of their own vote.

4.3 Each representative must be a winner

Sometimes, the voters are in favour of a political party, but do not like specific candidates. An example was the premier of AlbertaAlberta is one of Canada's provinces. Its capital is the city of Edmonton. Other cities and towns include Banff, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. See also: List of communities in Alberta. As of 2004, the population of the province was 3,183, Donald GettyDonald Ross Getty (born August 30, 1933), Canadian politician, was Premier of Alberta and leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party between 1985 and 1992. A former quarterback with the Edmonton Eskimos, Getty was one of the six Tories elected t. His government was re-elected in 1989, but because of voter dissatisfaction with the way the government was led, Getty, the leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative PartyThe Alberta Progressive Conservative Party is a provincial right-of-centre party in the Canadian province of Alberta. The PC party has formed the provincial government, without interruption, since 1971 under the leadership of Peter Lougheed ( 1971- 1985),, was not re-elected by voters from his electoral district.

Similarly, in the 1999 OntarioOntario ( In Detail) ( In Detail) Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Loyal she began, loyal she remains Capital Toronto Largest City Toronto Area Total % fresh water 4th largest(2nd lgst prov. 1 076 395 km² 14. 7% Population Total (2001) Density Rank provincial election, Mike HarrisMichael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) was the twenty-second Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the " Common Sense Revolution" and his large cuts to provincial programs and taxes. The Hon. Mike Harris Rank and his Progressive-Conservative party was re-elected to a majority government, but symbolic of the growing discontent among voters about cuts to education, his education minister and strong ally was resoundingly defeated by the opposition candidate.

It is often claimed that because each electoral district votes for its own representative, the elected candidate is held accountable to his own voters, thereby helping to prevent incompetent, fraudulent or corrupt behaviour by elected candidates. The voters in the electoral district can easily replace him since they have full power over who they want to represent them. In the absence of effective recall legislation, however, the electors must wait until the end of the representative's term.

5 No system can guarantee a clear result

• A Close elections is one where the winner's majoriy is very small, or where third parties or independents hold the balance of power.

6 Where First Past the Post systems are used

Countries that use this system to elect the lower or only house of their legislature include:

• Bahamas
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belize
• Botswana
• Canada
• Dominica
• The Gambia
• Grenada
• India
• Jamaica
• Malaysia
• Federated States of Micronesia
• Nepal
• Papua New Guinea
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Samoa
• Solomon Islands
• Trinidad and Tobago
• United Kingdom (Parliamentary and local government elections only)
• United States
• Zambia

See Table of voting systems by nation

The first past the post election system is used in the Republic of China on Taiwan for executive offices such as county magistrates, mayors, and the president, but not for legislative seats which used the single non-transferable vote system. This has produced an interesting party structure in which there are two broad coalitions of parties which cooperate in executive elections but which compete internally in legislative elections. Source: Making Votes Count, Gary Cox (1997)

7 Ballot types

Ballots can be of two forms. The simplest form is a blank ballot where the name of a candidate is written in by hand. A more structured ballot will list all the candidates and allow a mark to be made by a single candidate. (A ballot with a candidate list can include space for a write-in candidate as well)

8 See also

• List of democracy and elections-related topics

9 External links

• ACE Project: First Past The Post - Detailed explanation of first-past-the-post voting

Voting systems

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