Election
An election is a way for people to choose who will represent them or govern them, by voting. In representative democracies the people elect representatives, and these representatives then govern.[1] Democracy is usually linked with universal suffrage (the right of all adults to vote), free elections and the idea of the consent of the governed.[2]
Free elections
For elections to be fair, people need other freedoms too. "These include freedom of association, movement, speech, information, voting rights, and freedom of conscience."[1] Democracies usually have more than one party standing in an election.[3] Political parties are permanent organisations whose main aim is to contest elections and to hold power in government.[4]
How winners are chosen
In Britain, each area elects one member. The seat goes to the candidate with the most votes.[5] Writing in 1931, Harold Laski noted that under this system a party could win a large majority of seats in the House of Commons with less than half of all the votes, as happened in 1924.[5]
Laski also argued that a government must face re-election by the citizens at the end of a fixed term.[6]
Ideas about elections
Laski wrote that a complete democracy would ask all its citizens about every decision.[7] He quoted the earlier writer Rousseau, who said that the English people were free only at election time.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Axford, Barrie; Browne, Victoria; Huggins, Richard; Isaacs, Rico (2018). Politics: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 278. ISBN 9781317243748.
- ↑ Axford, Barrie; Browne, Victoria; Huggins, Richard; Isaacs, Rico (2018). Politics: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 274. ISBN 9781317243748.
- ↑ Axford, Barrie; Browne, Victoria; Huggins, Richard; Isaacs, Rico (2018). Politics: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 339. ISBN 9781317243748.
- ↑ Axford, Barrie; Browne, Victoria; Huggins, Richard; Isaacs, Rico (2018). Politics: An Introduction (3rd ed.). Routledge. p. 338. ISBN 9781317243748.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Laski, Harold J. (2015) [1931]. An Introduction to Politics. Routledge. p. 56. ISBN 9781317586708.
- ↑ Laski, Harold J. (2015) [1931]. An Introduction to Politics. Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 9781317586708.
- ↑ Laski, Harold J. (2015) [1931]. An Introduction to Politics. Routledge. p. 47. ISBN 9781317586708.
- ↑ Laski, Harold J. (2015) [1931]. An Introduction to Politics. Routledge. p. 52. ISBN 9781317586708.