PARLIAMENT AND DEMOCRACY - Inter-Parliamentary Union

Electoral systems
A representative parliament I 15
Further online reading about standards for free and fair elections:
European Commission for Democracy Through Law (Venice Commission)
(2002). Guidelines on elections.
Goodwin-Gill, G. (2006). Free and fair elections. Inter-Parliamentary Union
Inter-Parliamentary Union (1994). Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair
Elections.
Nelson, S (2003). Standards to judge elections. Administration and Cost of
Elections Project
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Office for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights (2003). Existing commitments for democratic
elections in OSCE participating states.
Southern Africa Development Community (2004). SADC principles and guidelines
governing democratic elections.
Southern Africa Development Community Parliamentary Forum (2001). Norms
and standards for elections in the SADC region. < Southern Africa Development
Community Parliamentary Forum (2001). Norms and standards for elections in
the SADC region.
>
A second feature affecting the political representativeness of a parliament
is how the given electoral system operates in the social and political context
of the country, and how fairly it treats different political parties, whose degree
of electoral support provides the best index of public opinion. There are
numerous types of electoral system currently in operation, but the three most
common types are:
■ the plurality or ‘first past the post’ system. Under this system electors vote
for one candidate in single-member constituencies, and the candidate who
wins the most votes is elected, whether or not he or she wins a majority of
the votes cast. In some countries an alternative vote or second round ballot
ensures that a candidate can only be elected by a majority of votes in each
constituency.