Electoral Systems

"Majority systems" require that a victorious candidate receive more than 50 percent of the vote. Under a "plurality system", winning candidates need only receive more votes than any opponent. Systems of "proportional representation" award legislative seats to competing political parties in rough proportion to their percentage of the popular votes cast. European nations commonly use this electoral system.

Virtually all national elections in the United States use the plurality system, although the majority system survives in some elections. In general, proportional representation works to the advantage of smaller or weaker groups in society, while plurality and majority rules tend to help larger and more powerful forces. Proportional representation tends to boost participation and increase the number of competitive political parties.