Exam 5: Executive Authority in Europe

If the United States were to adopt a proportional representation system, how would this change American politics? What sort of parties might form? Do you think this system would be superior to the current one?

Some describe the German electoral system as the best of SMDP and PR. Why might this be so?

Ireland's single-transferable vote electoral system is a variant of proportional representation.

Germany's voting system is known as

A "grand coalition" of the two largest parties governed which country from 2005-2009?

Why might a SMDP system produce a "skewed" distribution of parliamentary seats that does not correspond with the overall percentage of votes? Be able to provide an example using hypothetical numbers.

Two-ballot plurality voting is unique to

Single-member district plurality voting

Under bicameralism

Bicameralism is common in federal states and those with sizeable minority groups.

All of the following are critiques of proportional representation EXCEPT

Germany is an example of consensus system.

The higher the electoral threshold in a proportional representation system, the more parties one will have in parliament.

Proportional representation tends to produce a two-party system.

The 2010 elections in Great Britain were interesting because

Single-member district plurality voting can be found in

Coalition governments are often found in which country?

National parliaments, more than European-level institutions, tend to be interested in

We often hear "every vote counts." The textbook, however, suggests that under certain conditions, votes may be "wasted." What does the author mean by "wasted votes," and what type of electoral system produces them?

Data suggest that