Proportional Representation

Proportional representation (PR) is an electoral mechanism designed to ensure that the distribution of votes between various interests in an election to a collective body is reflected proportionally in the distribution of seats on that body. In its typical form, in continental Europe "list" systems, it ensures that the share of votes cast for party lists in elections is fairly accurately translated into share of seats.

Under the less common "single transferable vote" (STV) system of PR, voters rank candidates (in practice, party is the most important consideration, but other criteria such as region or gender may also count). These preference votes are then converted into seats on the basis of an electoral quota; "surplus" votes of candidates reaching this quota are redistributed according to lower preferences, and less popular candidates are progressively eliminated and their lower preferences are redistributed until all vacancies have been filled.

The STV form of PR has been the "normal" one in English-speaking countries. First implemented in Tasmania in 1896, it was introduced for local elections in Ireland in 1919 and for elections to the parliaments of Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland in 1920. Election of the Dáil by PR has been a constitutional requirement since 1922 (the 1937 constitution specifies that the STV system be used). Notwithstanding efforts to replace it with the U.K.- and U.S.-style plurality system in 1959 and 1968, this system has survived in the Republic of Ireland. It is also used in elections to the senate, in local elections, and in Irish elections to the European parliament.

In Northern Ireland, PR was abolished for local elections in 1922 and for domestic parliamentary elections in 1929. The reinstituted plurality system helped to preserve unionist hegemony, and when Northern Ireland's institutions were reformed following the outbreak of civil unrest, PR was brought back in 1973 for elections to local authorities and to the Northern Ireland assembly and its successors (apart from the Forum elected in 1996, when a modified "list" system was used).

The primary reason for the introduction of PR in Ireland was to ensure minority representation. One alleged side effect of the STV form is that it promotes intraparty divisions and, by placing a premium on electoral competition within rather than between parties, encourages clientelist politics, with candidates offering to do favors for constituents rather than engaging with issues of national policy; evidence on this issue is inconclusive. A second criticism of PR is that it inhibits strong government by promoting a multiparty system; but its defenders argue that non-PR systems violate basic principles of electoral justice. Since the political stakes are high, this debate is likely to continue.

Proportional Representation

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