British Political System
The British electoral system
Voter turnout in general elections has fallen dramatically in the last decades. The younger generation is the group that participates the least in the British elections. Most young people hold the complexity of the electoral system responsible for their refusal to vote. But the British election system is not difficult to understand, and political matters do concern everybody. In a time when there is much speculation about when Gordon Brown will call a new general election, young people should understand the election system and be well prepared. How does the British electoral system function? What is the simple majority system and how is it justified? Why should young people cast their votes in the general election? The answers to these questions will come to light in this article.
The prime minister decides when to hold a new general election, but no more than five years can elapse since the last general election. The prime minster asks the monarch to dissolve parliament, and all political parties begin their election campaign. A minimum of three weeks are held to campaigning.
Britain is divided into 646 constituencies and each constituency elects its own MP, Member of Parliament. The constituencies vary in size and population, and some constituencies have up to 65 000 residents while smaller constituencies can have 25 000 voters. The British electoral system is based on the simple majority system, also known as the plurality voting system. In the simple majority system, a candidate just needs more votes than its opponent in order to be elected to the House of Commons. Only one MP can be elected from the constituency. This system differs from the system of proportional representation used in Norway. In the system of proportional representation, the composition of the National Assembly is done according to the share of votes in the nation as a whole. For example, if the Labour Party wins 50...
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