Becci's Political Musings

As promised in last week's blog post regarding the run up to the European Election, which can be found  here , I am going to do a post that explains the different electoral systems. Electoral systems are split into three main categories: proportional representation, majoritarian systems and mixed systems which are a hybrid of the first two systems. Within those categories there are numerous electoral systems. The reason there are so many electoral systems across the world is a result of the different social constructions which require electoral systems that represent communities correctly. The first type of electoral systems  are the majoritarian systems because the United Kingdom uses one of the most prominent ones for its general elections. Majoritarian systems are designed to form a majority in parliament for the governing party and are often seen as a winner takes all system. These electoral systems favour a two party system. The electoral systems that fall under this c...

With less than a week to go until the European Election on the 22nd May I'm sure you like me are getting a lot of election paraphernalia being pushed through your door from a whole host of political parties with many saying very similar things. In case you don't know I am based in the West Midlands so the candidates I have leaflets from will differ from your own if you live in a different region. Thus far I have five leaflets through my door from the AIP, the BNP, the Conservatives, Labour and Let the People Decide Parties. Surprisingly there are no leaflets from the Liberal Democrats or UKIP yet but I am sure they will arrive before next Thursday along with a host of other parties. So what are the leaflets saying? The overwhelming theme that runs throughout the leaflets is the in/out debate that is raging everywhere at the moment. The main problem with this is that MEPs cannot decide whether there is a referendum in the UK regarding membership of the EU. The only person w...