Issues on Election Method
1405 이제원
In parliamentary elections there are largely 3 types. Single member district system, multi member district system and multi member constituency. Multi member district system is the compromise of the single member system and the multi member constituency. It allows voters to vote for more than 1 person and it also allows for multiple politicians to be elected. Yet since there are gains and loss to every system whether or not to adopt this system to our society has been a long, ongoing issue. I think making the election districts in to multi member district has more benefits than the current system.
First, multi member district system can be beneficial to small parties. Voters tend to vote the leading party or the following party So as the result, the parties who are falling behind does not get much interest even though they come with an amazing policy. At the first place they do not get the attention. However when the current situation changes in to multi member district, small parties get a chance to draw more attention. This happens because when voters get the chance vote for multiple candidates, it allows them to look at other parties, which they have not focused on before. For example before 1996 Japan adopted the multi member district system, in those years there were a lot of small party in the house, There were very diverse parties that some parties names were things like “the green party, party who loves the japan’. Having small parties isn’t just good because it offers small party a chance of being elected but it actually leads to the benefits of the citizens. If there are many parties in the house there could be diverse ideas in the house. There also can be diverse clashes in the house. These diverse clash is likely to make a healthy debate and a healthy government conference culture. Japanese people were happy that they could have many people in the house with diverse perspectives and ideas. It also prevents the autocracy of the leading party.
The second reason for making the districts as multi member districts is because, individuals can focus on election promises rather than focusing on a certain party. According to the research done by UC Hastings; 67 percent of the US citizen tend to vote only by looking at a certain party rather than looking at the election promises. Yet when the election system becomes multi member district system, people get to consider the promise for the second candidate. It is quite obvious that individuals will vote the member of the party they support without considering the promise. But when people consider the second voter, they usually vote by their promises not the parties. Also if the multi member district system becomes the main voting system, there could be a competition in a party. The fight in a single party will happen because multi member district system allows two candidates from the same party to do their campaigns in the same district. If this happens candidate will try harder to come up with a better election promises because the parties name value will no longer be the advantage. These could lead to politicians being more careful and considering when choosing their election promises.
Single member district system has its own benefits yet it also has many deficiencies. In a modern day where the autocracy of the leading party has always been a critical issue, I think by adopting the multi member district election system to our society, we can make a better politic culture and settle the issue down.
