Proportional representation

Proportional representation (PR) is any election system which ensures a proportionally representative result of a democratic election, x% of votes should be represented by x% in the democratic institutions, parliament or congress.

History

The PR system was devised in the late 19th century, and was first used in Belgium in the 1900 parliamentary elections. PR was implemented in many European countries during or after World War I (e.g. the German Weimar Republic).

Related Topics:
19th century - Weimar Republic

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Proportional representation is a much more common system of voting than first-past-the-post. In general, first-past-the-post is only used in former British colonies, but a form of proportional representation known as the mixed member system is now being used in the United Kingdom to elect the members of the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh National Assembly. Although once an unknown system, proportional representation is now gaining popularity in Canada with five provinces: British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick currently debating whether to abolish the first past the post system, and at the federal level, a Parliamentary Committee is now exploring the issue. Political analysts point out the fact that the current attitude and sequence of events is very similar to what happened in New Zealand when New Zealand opted for Mixed Member Proportional Representation and the analysts conclude Canada is heading down the same route. All of the members of the European Parliament, or MEPs, including those elected from constituencies in Britain, are elected by proportional representation. Proportional representation is also used in many European countries.

Related Topics:
Mixed member system - United Kingdom - Scottish Parliament - Welsh National Assembly - Canada - New Zealand - MEP

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Proportional representation does have some history in the United States. Many cities, including New York, once used it for their city councils as a way to break up the Democratic Party monopolies on elective office. In Cincinnati, Ohio, proportional representation was adopted in 1925 to get rid of a Republican party machine (the Republicans successfully overturned proportional representation in 1957). Proportional representation is still used in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Related Topics:
Democratic Party - Cincinnati, Ohio - Republican - Cambridge, Massachusetts

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Some electoral systems incorporate additional features to ensure absolutely accurate or more comprehensive representation, based on gender or minority status (like ethnicity). Note that features such as this are not strictly part of proportional representation; depending on what kind of PR is used, people tend to be already represented proportionally according to these standards without such additional rules.

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In Ireland, PR has resulted in a strange situation whereby a centre party with a large support base (Fianna Fáil) has 45% of the vote but the opposition parties are extremely fragmented with the only thing that unites them being their dislike of Fianna Fail, therefore people do want a strong alternative to Fianna Fail however they differ greatly on what form that should take, thus an extremely fragmented opposition vote.

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See for a list of perceived advantages of proportional representation.

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