Diwakar, Rekha (2018) The workings of the single member plurality electoral system in India and the need for reform. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics. pp. 1-21. ISSN 2057-8911

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Abstract

India uses single member plurality system (SMPS) to elect the members of the lower house of its national parliament and the state assemblies. Under SMPS, elections are conducted for separate geographical areas, known as constituencies or districts, and the electors cast one vote each for a candidate with the winner being the candidate who gets the plurality of votes. SMPS is traditionally defended primarily on the grounds of simplicity and its tendency to produce winning candidates, which promotes a link between constituents and their representatives. It tends to provide a clear-cut choice for voters between two main parties, and is expected to gives rise to single-party rather than coalition governments. It also has the benefit of excluding extremist parties from gaining representation, unless their support is geographically concentrated.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	disproportionality, electoral reform, electoral system, India, single member plurality electoral system
Schools and Departments:	School of Law, Politics and Sociology > Politics
Research Centres and Groups:	Sussex European Institute
Subjects:	J Political Science > JQ Political institutions and public administration (Asia, Africa, Australia, Pacific Area, etc.) > JQ0021 Asia > JQ0200 India
Related URLs:	http://journals.sagepub.com/home/acp
Depositing User:	Rekha Diwakar
Date Deposited:	21 May 2018 14:02
Last Modified:	02 Jul 2019 15:45
URI:	http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/75669

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