Does Australia use First Past the Post?Australians head to the polls tomorrow to elect all 151 members of the Federal House of Representatives and 40 of their 76 Senators. Australian elections are world-renowned for their beloved ‘Democracy Sausages’ and the fact...Posted 17 May 2019
Is there proportional representation in France?Apart from the UK, France is the only other European democracy not to use some form of proportional representation for its state-wide elections (Here’s a list of voting systems used at the state-level in Europe)....Posted 07 Mar 2019
With first past the post, country and city voters take turns being locked out of governmentFar too often, debates around electoral reform are characterised as the idea of making two pie charts match: one pie chart represents how the country voted, the other the make-up of parliament. The 2015 general...Posted 28 Feb 2019
What is a Citizens’ Assembly?Citizens’ Assemblies are often in the news, from the assemblies that led to the referendums on equal marriage and abortion in Ireland, to the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland and local council climate assemblies. While the...Posted 24 Jan 2019
How long have we used First Past the Post? You might be surprisedWe’re right to be proud of the long history of parliamentary democracy in Britain. But the way we elect MPs to Westminster is a relatively new development in that history. There have been countless reforms...Posted 11 Jan 2019
Which European countries use proportional representation?Of the 43 countries most often considered to be within Europe, 40 use some form of proportional representation to elect their MPs. The UK stands almost alone in Europe in using a ‘one-person-takes-all’ disproportionate voting...Posted 26 Dec 2018
How does proportional representation work in Germany?[Note: Germany updated their voting system for the 2025 election, and introduced new rules. You can find out about that in our article on the election] Elections to Germany’s Bundestag – Germany’s House of Commons...Posted 18 Dec 2018
Does Ireland use proportional representation?Ireland has a long history of using proportional representation and, specifically, the Single Transferable Vote (STV). STV is the Electoral Reform Society’s preferred electoral system. Rather than one person representing everyone in a small area,...Posted 11 Dec 2018
How does mandatory voter ID disenfranchise the public?The government is set to face a legal challenge to its plans to ban people without ID from voting across the UK – starting with the trials it intends to run at the 2019 local...Posted 04 Dec 2018
Why are there Bishops in the House of Lords?When most people think of Bishops they imagine a man or woman saying prayers in a cathedral, not making the laws that govern all of us. But there are Bishops today who sit in the...Posted 29 Nov 2018