Thomas Carl Lundberg

Putting a human face on proportional representation: early experiences in Scotland and Wales

Abstract The additional member system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales has been controversial for electing two types of representatives, those elected by list PR in multi‐member regions and others elected by plurality ‘first‐past‐the‐post’ in single‐member constituencies. Members elected by list PR are taking on a constituency role, despite apparent institutional incentives to the contrary, although list members seem more inclined to ‘represent’ organised interests. The ‘shadowing’ of constituency members by regional party list members has been a source of strain in the relations between the two types of representative as they come to terms with the new electoral system.

Politics is Still an Adversarial Business: Minority Government and Mixed-Member Proportional Representation in Scotland and in New Zealand

Both Scotland and New Zealand, small nations with a British political heritage, implemented mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral systems in the 1990s. Minority government characterises most of the New Zealand experience since the introduction of MMP in 1996, while Scotlands only such experience occurred between 2007 and 2011. The Scottish experience differed significantly from that of New Zealand because Scotland has a different party system (characterised by two major cleavages) and exists in a system of multi-level governance, resulting in a more conflict-laden relationship between parties. The centre-periphery cleavage in the Scottish case results from being part of the United Kingdom, while New Zealand is an independent state. Both nations introduced MMP as part of an effort to bring about a ‘new politics’, but the impact of institutional engineering upon the behaviour of politicians has been limited.

Decentralization and the centre right in the UK and Spain: central power and regional responsibility

ABSTRACT Decentralisation and the centre right in the UK and Spain: central power and regional responsibility. Territory, Politics, Governance. The British Conservative Party and the Spanish Partido Popular (PP) have been hostile, at least at times, to devolving greater power to regions. Although both parties might be expected to support decentralization on economically liberal grounds, in fact both have found it extremely difficult to reconcile their centre-right economic instincts with a deeply ingrained commitment to the integrity of the state. This paper explores the tension in conservative and liberal ideology between supporting sub-state political responsibility through decentralization and supporting strong central government able to take long-term (and potentially unpopular) decisions in times of economic crisis. We examine these two parties in light of Toubeau and Wagner’s [2015. Explaining party positions on decentralization. British Journal of Political Science, 45(1), 97–119] framework, finding that market liberalism can be interpreted differently when it comes to decentralization: both the PP and the Conservative Party have both at different times used economic justifications for a strong central state. The PP continues to hold a conservative view of decentralization and the Conservatives have only recently started to link their market liberalism to a justification for decentralization. Thus, whilst it is possible to construct a liberal economic case for devolving power away from the central state, one does not necessarily follow the other.

Framing Electoral Reform in the 2011 UK Alternative Vote Referendum Campaign

The 2011 British referendum on the electoral system offered voters a change within the majoritarian family from single-member plurality to the alternative vote. The alternative vote is not proportional, but the ‘yes’ campaign in the United Kingdom included small parties and ‘democracy sector’ organisations previously associated with advocating proportional representation. This anomalous behaviour can be explained by applying social movement theory, especially interpretations related to political opportunity structures and frame analysis. The Liberal Democrats, Electoral Reform Society and others had previously criticised the alternative vote, yet decided to campaign in favour of it. This led to an unclear framing of their objectives and, ultimately, their failure. 2011年英国就选举制进行的公投为这个多数决体系的选民提供了一种从简单多数到排序复选的变革。排序复选并非比例制，但英国的“yes”运动包括先前主张比例代表制的小党和“民主部门”的组织。这样的缺少一贯之道可以用社会运动的理论特别是政治—机会的结构和框架分析来解释。自由民主派、选举改革学会及其他先前批评排序复选制的组织又决定声援它。这造成其目标的模糊和最终的失败。

POST‐COMMUNISM AND THE ABANDONMENT OF MIXED‐MEMBER ELECTORAL SYSTEMS

Many countries adopted mixed‐member (MM) electoral systems in the 1990s, but several switched to list proportional representation (PR) recently. Most switchers are post‐communist countries that used the semi‐proportional mixed‐member majoritarian (MMM) system, often associated with dominant parties. List PR was adopted under competitive conditions in some cases (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Ukraine), while in places where authoritarian control remains (Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan), list PR appears to be used as a means of reducing competition and undermining multiparty democracy.

Competition Between Constituency and List Representatives

The elections to the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales were conducted using the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system new to Britain, and some members of these bodies, elected in the two different ways, came into conflict almost right away. Problems arose as list-elected representatives began to ‘shadow’ their constituency-elected counterparts by performing constituency service functions. In Scotland, a panel study of 13 members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) noted the presence of friction between constituency and list members early on, often over who was entitled to casework (McCabe and McCormick 2000). Initially there was less of a problem in Wales, but after the second Welsh Assembly election in 2003, more attention was paid to the practice of shadowing performed by list Assembly Members (AMs). In 2005 the British government began the process of introducing a ban on dual candidacy, where candidates are allowed to stand in both constituency and regional list contests at the same time, for Welsh Assembly elections.

Review of Bache, I. & Jordan, A. (2006) 'The Europeanization of British Politics'

In the 1990s, European welfare capitalism has fallen out of favour. Once praised for its reconciliation of efficiency and equality, it is now under attack for its allegedly meagre economic and employment performance. In his new book, Jonas Pontusson challenges the neoliberal mainstream and argues that the European ‘social market economies’ still represent a viable and superior socio-economic model. Pontusson’s book features a comparative analysis of economic growth, labour market trends and welfare state developments in ‘liberal’ and ‘social market economies’. The latter are divided into two subgroups, the Nordic and the continental social market economies (Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland). Pontusson identifies a number of common developments, such as the increase in inequality, as well as certain trends towards convergence, most notably with regard to the level of social spending and the privatisation of health care. His main focus, however, is on the differences in employment performance between liberal and social market economies. Pontusson finds that the social market economies do not show higher unemployment and lower employment rates than the liberal market economies, but have in fact suffered from weaker employment growth and, in the case of the continental social market economies, higher long-term unemployment. He then goes on to argue that the differences in employment growth can be attributed largely to differences in demographics and macro-economic policy. In addition, he sees some evidence that employment growth in the social market economies is hampered by excessive levels of wage compression, employment protection and payroll taxes. These findings lead him to call for a liberalisation of employment protection and a shifting of the tax burden from payroll to income taxes as major elements of a progressive reform agenda for social market economies. At the same time, Pontusson denies the need for more far reaching changes. For him, the social market economies are in principle well equipped to deal with current and future challenges, most notably globalisation, and continue to be the more attractive socio-economic model. Playing down the importance of complementarities, Pontusson even argues that the liberal market economies would benefit from adopting some of the policies typical of social market economies. Pontusson’s book stands out on a number of counts: it synthesises different strands of the literature in an original manner; it addresses a number of issues that are often neglected in comparative political economy, most notably inequality and macro-economic policy; finally, it presents a mass of interesting, carefully interpreted data and explodes a number of myths. These features make the book a must-read for all those interested in the varieties of capitalism, labour market trends and welfare state developments. On a critical note, two main issues might be raised: First, Pontusson’s book would have benefited from a more detailed analysis of the differences in economic growth among the different country groups. Secondly, not all West European Politics, Vol. 30, No. 3, 634 – 655, May 2007