000 01644pab a2200205 454500
008 180718b2007 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100 _aJoseph, T.M.
245 _aDemocracy and governance: Does electoral system matter?
260 _c2007
300 _ap.125-138.
362 _aJan-Mar
520 _aThe present article looks into the unrepresentative character of the existing `first-past-the-post' (FPTP) system in India and suggests certain alternative models so that our country can be better governed. The FPTP system of election results in the victory of a candidate with a minority (less than fifty per cent of votes polled) of votes which enables the candidate who gets the most votes (need not be a majority of total votes polled) to win an election in a multi-cornered contest. This implies that only a minority of voters who have voted for the victorious candidate get any representation at all. The voters (often a majority) who voted for the defeated candidates go unrepresented. It means that they have wasted their votes. At the national level, this phenomenon leads to a disproportion between the percentage of votes polled by political parties and the number of seats won by parties. In order to correct this drawback in the present Indian system, alternative models of electoral systems are analysed and the Mixed Member Proportional system is suggested in the article. - Reproduced.
650 _aElectoral systems - India
650 _aIndia - Politics and government
650 _aDemocracy - India
650 _aDemocracy
773 _aIndian Journal of Public Administration
908 _aN
909 _a73823
999 _c73823
_d73823