The electoral system is the legally fixed mechanisms for representing the interests of the people in state and local authorities. Such mechanisms are formed from three main sources: from national constitutional provisions and historical experience of the election of public leaders, from international standards (international law), as well as the traditions of perception of politics that have developed in a certain territory. Together, these three components form the effect of the stability of the political system, which exists due to the permanent circulation of elites and the change of party representation in the center and in the localities.
The concept of the electoral system
In political science, and in legal science, two definitions of the electoral system are distinguished. The first involves the introduction and maintenance of legal standards for the election of people's representatives, as mentioned above. The second definition indicates that the electoral system is the normative practice of counting votes at elections of any level. Two features of this approach are characteristic. Firstly, any election system is not subject to a fleeting audit. It follows that the election procedure, and especially the vote count, does not depend on the will of a political leader or on the decision of the dominant party. Secondly, the administrative and managerial “gaps” between the internal bureaucracy and the top officials of political players remain. In democratic societies, a situation often arises when a party’s public leader engages in a hidden conflict with local representatives of the organization or the minister’s private intentions are blocked by the departments of the ministry due to the fact that the activities of officials are largely independent of the personal will of the political minister.
Election Systems in Their Variety
The traditions of the formation of electoral systems go back not only to historical, but also to religious experience. A classic example in this regard is England, where the bipartisan system has its roots in the aftermath of the civil war, expressed in the opposition of the then conventional parties “for York” and “for Lancaster”. As regards the practice of religious confrontation, the example of Germany is typical in this respect - Catholics who choose the liberal CDU-CSU and Protestants who are sympathetic to the left social democrats. As a special (not right and not left) alternative are the “green”, which already represent the interests of the new, “post-capitalist” voter.
Be that as it may, at present there are three types of basic electoral systems: majority, proportional and mixed.
The majority electoral system is the election of one deputy in the corresponding district according to the list submitted by parties and the so-called self-nominees. The winner in elections is the candidate who gains a relative or absolute majority of the vote. In some cases, the so-called qualified majority is counted when the candidate who receives more than 2/3 of the votes is considered elected.
The proportional election system is the election of deputies based on lists submitted by parties. At the same time, voting can take place either only for parties (“closed” lists formed by the candidate and non-public for voters), or for parties and for lists at the same time (“open”). At the same time, the parties that gained a certain percentage of votes in the election fall into the legislative assembly. Usually it is 3-5%, in Israel 1%, in some countries 7% and most. The personnel of deputies is formed on the basis of rating voting on lists. Thus, it turns out that the electoral system is a mechanism for the conversion of political elites that does not allow monopolizing power or its individual powers.
A mixed system involves a combination of majority and proportional voting schemes. For example, 50% of the seats are elected by party lists, and the other half by majority. However, in either case, priority is given to party nominees. It is believed that the electoral system is a political representation. And only candidates from parties or public organizations are able to provide it.
The Russian electoral system involves parliamentary elections on a proportional basis. Those political organizations that gained more than 7% of the vote fall into the State Duma. Lists of parties are closed. It is assumed that in the next electoral cycle, scheduled for 2016, the electoral barrier will be reduced to 5%. It is possible that by this time some other modifications of the voting procedure will occur.