Take this Quiz: A-Level Politics: Elections and Voting Systems | Zestly

Question 1

In a constituency election, Party A receives 42 per cent of the vote, Party B receives 31 per cent, Party C receives 18 per cent, and Party D receives 9 per cent. Under the first-past-the-post system, who wins the seat and what is the share of voters who did not support the winner?

Accepted Answer

Party A wins, and 58 per cent of voters did not support them.

Answer

Party A wins, and 50 per cent of voters did not support them.

Answer

No party wins because no candidate achieved a majority of more than 50 per cent.

Answer

Party A wins, and 42 per cent of voters did not support them.

Question 2

In a national election, Party X wins 60 per cent of the seats in the legislature while receiving only 40 per cent of the total national vote. What is the primary mechanism that explains how this outcome occurs?

Accepted Answer

The system aggregates votes on a seat-by-seat basis, where votes for losing candidates or excess votes for winners are not transferred.

Answer

The system automatically awards a bonus of seats to the party with the most votes to ensure stability.

Answer

The system requires a minimum threshold of 40 per cent to qualify for any seats, which excludes smaller parties.

Answer

The system is rigged to favour larger parties through fraudulent vote counting.

Question 3

In a closed-list proportional system, the party hierarchy determines the order of candidates on the ballot paper. If a voter chooses to support a party under this system, what is the primary trade-off they face compared to voting for a named local candidate?

Accepted Answer

The voter gains the ability to vote for a party's national programme but loses the ability to select or reject specific individual candidates.

Answer

The voter gains a direct link to a local representative but loses the ability to ensure their vote contributes to national proportionality.

Answer

The voter gains the ability to choose individual candidates but loses the ability to vote for a party.

Answer

The voter gains a guarantee of a coalition government but loses the ability to influence the party's policy platform.

Question 4

Under one system a voter casts two votes: one for a local representative, elected by whoever gets the most votes in that area, and one for a party list. The list seats are then distributed so that each party's total number of seats moves closer to its share of the list vote. What is this design trying to do, and what does it tend to produce?

Answer

It removes the local link in exchange for proportionality, so no representative is attached to any particular area.

Answer

It is meant to produce single-party majorities more reliably than a purely local count does, by adding seats to whichever party finished first.

Answer

It is fully proportional, so every party's seats match its vote share exactly and no party can ever govern alone.

Answer

It keeps a named local representative for every area while closing most of the gap between seats and votes — and because the result is more proportional than a purely local count, one party wins an overall majority less often, so coalition and minority governments become ordinary rather than exceptional.

Question 5

In a multi-member constituency using the single transferable vote, voters rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate reaches the quota or is eliminated, their surplus or votes are transferred. What is the main benefit for the voter, and what is the associated trade-off?

Answer

The voter gains the ability to vote for multiple parties, but the trade-off is a much smaller constituency size.

Answer

The voter gains a single local representative, but the trade-off is the loss of party choice.

Answer

The voter gains greater choice and fewer wasted votes, but the trade-off is a larger, multi-member constituency.

Answer

The voter gains a guarantee of a majority government, but the trade-off is the loss of independent candidates.